Trainee Area Manager Review

I very much enjoyed my placement with Aldi. I love a challenge as I am extremely driven and ambitious and so I really thrived off the responsibility I was given by the company. The diversity of the placement year also adds to the enjoyment. Your first six months are spent in 2-3 different stores where you begin as an Assistant Store Manager with the opportunity to advance onto Store Manager and have total control if you desire. I spent time in two very different stores and got the opportunity to run them both which was certainly challenging but a great experience. The second half of the year is spent conducting project work in each department which opens your eyes to a multitude of different perspectives throughout the company. You also get the chance to meet other IPs across the different regions. Two events are arranged at the first few weeks and the penultimate weeks of your placement and it was great to meet other likeminded people and very interesting to see the development in everyone from the start and finish of the placement. The company also arranged a Christmas meal for us all to attend with the Directors.

All the Area Managers you meet and get to work with are very inspirational. They are all very dedicated to their job and the drive and determination they exude is very motivational. My mentor was excellent and provided me with constant feedback on what I was excelling in and what I needed to improve on throughout which made me feel valued. During the regional office time all the projects were set by Directors and we presented each project to them upon completion. In many cases our projects were implemented at a regional level and my final project involved setting up and running a whole new department which definitely made me feel valued as I was making a significant difference.

As aforementioned my Area Manager Mentor was excellent. He was very methodical in the way he taught me about the business and how things should be done but also gave me the reigns on many occasions and initiative based tasks. My training in store could have been better, however I know they have now created a structured training list which will allow you to see what stage you are at and allow you to drive your own training if you want to know more.

There was never a dull or quiet moment during my placement. Particularly during my time in store, sometimes I was working 16 hour days but the time flew by. There is so much to be done on a daily basis such as controlling KPIs, thinking about how you can improve the customer experience and performance managing your team, just to list a few responsibilities. What hours you do and what you put in are down to you to take control of. I enjoyed the hard work and it was really rewarding to see the impact I had in both stores. During the project work your hours are very much 8-6 and you learn to manage your own time and work in the most productive and efficient manner.

I'm not sure there is another company out there that would give a twenty-year old as much responsibility as Aldi. For example my second day in the company consisted of conducting about fifteen group interviews in three of my mentor's stores. During my final few training weeks with my Area Manager I ran his area by myself for a day and co-ran the area with a trainee Area Manager during the week following. Whilst in store, as a Store Manager I had autonomous control over the stores, in the absence of the Store Manager, which involved being accountable for KPI results and a team of about forty people. Similarly, some of the project work we were set was Director level or Area Manager level and so you are far from the label of just a 'student'.

I can definitely say I have learnt skills for life from my experience with Aldi. My confidence in what it takes to run a successful business and just in general has expanded immensely. I have developed my own management style that proved very successful during my time in store where I gained the respect and positive responses from all my employees. I have also learnt the value of being clear and concise and how to work in the most productive and efficient way to generate the optimum outcome. My time management and organisational skills have also developed further and I know the best way to succeed in such a professional environment.

As an Industrial Placement you spend your last six months in head office conducting project work, alongside assistants. It is a very friendly and hard working atmosphere in the office and the assistants were very helpful whenever I had any queries. However as Aldi is a very professional company you want to ensure you conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times.

The year was well devised in terms of spending an equal amount of time in store and head office. However the consistency of how many stores an IP spends time in needs improving as it varied across the programme and the more stores the better your experience. Also during the project work some departments were more organised than others, however I know the company are working to improve this and should be better for the next intake of IPs.

Aldi invests an incredible amount of time on your development. I am a completely different person to when I started, with increased overall confidence, extensive knowledge on running a business and achieving targets in addition to managing immense responsibility. Training in store is something the company are aware they need to improve on and have created a structured training document for Store Manager trainers. This will eradicate any 'unknowns' and you can really drive your own training with this.

Future prospects are very appealing. You do have to reapply but you will so much further advanced and experienced than any other applicants and this will give you a great advantage to succeed onto the graduate program.

The company organised two Industrial Placement events where we were given A4s and travelled up to Manchester. We stayed in The Marriot hotel and socialised with IPs from all the other UK regions. It was a great experience to meet the other IPs at the start of their Aldi journey and upon finishing. The first meeting gave us an in-depth introduction into Aldi and allowed us to express what we wanted to ascertain from the year. The second meeting reviewed our year and we voiced our opinions on what we really enjoyed and what we felt could be improved about the IP program. Two days were allocated for both events and the evening consisted of a three course meal and drinks after in the hotel. Regionally we also had a christmas meal with the Directors at a local restaurant. In store it was quite difficult to obtain the correct work-life balance at first but as you get better at organising your time this difficulty diminishes. Rotas are also completed four weeks in advanced so you have time to organise social events.

I was lucky and was able to live at home for the year so had very few expenses to pay.

Good, living at home meant I was able to go out with friends from my area.

As aforementioned you very much independently manage your time and so make the opportunities yourself to get involved in external activities.