Industrial Placement Scheme Review

The Industrial Placement scheme at ALDI offers a fantastic opportunity to broaden your skills set, build your confidence and prepare yourself for the future. You will be expected to work hard but will be rewarded for this: a great salary, vast amounts of responsibility, opportunities to work in a number of roles in the business and the potential for a place on the renowned Graduate scheme. At times you are pushed to your limits, make mistakes and feel like your day is never going to end but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the company. You still wake up eager the next day and excited by what your day may bring. It's a common clique but everyday is different.

At Aldi there is a very close relationship between colleagues. As everyone is expected to work hard you all have to work together effectively to establish a great team both in store, in the warehouse and in other departments such as Trading and Property. As you progress from the Store Assistant role up to an Assistant Store Manager, the respect from senior colleagues is very clear and they trust you to make the right choices under pressure. You work is of great importance to the company and they will back you so long as you are eager and don't shy away from responsibility.

There are several people that you can approach as a point of contact for support and guidance: Firstly, on the first day you will meet your area manager who will act as your supervisor/mentor for the year. Yo will establish a strong relationship with this person and they will be responsible for you and will go out of their way to help you. Whilst working in store you will also have the store managers who are more than willing to help. It is very important that during this placement you keep push to find out how to do new things and you will not be "spoon fed". Finally, for more serious matter, you will have your Store Operations director who acts as your personnel leader.

It is a 50 hour contract so you are expected to work hard and work long 10 hour days. It is a bit of a shock to the system in the first couple of weeks but you will soon become accustomed to the faced paced nature of this retail environment as long as you keep pushing yourself and impress your supervisors. If you want a placement that involves sitting at a desk looking at figures than this certainly isn't the one for you; you will be expected to stock the shelves, motivate yourself and other staff, run the store just to name a few parts of your role. At some points it feels like you don't have enough hours in the day to complete all that is expected of you but this only builds your character and builds you into an efficient and productive ALDI employee.

If you've done any research on the placement you will have seen that one of ALDI's biggest selling point is the amount of responsibility given: They are not making this up. Within a few weeks of store training you will be given the store key. You will also be given the responsibility of running the safe during some shifts meaning you are in control of the thousands of pounds spent in store daily. . At some point you will also be given the MDT which is the electronic device which each stores uses to complete the orders. Therefore, you will be responsible for ordering thousands of pounds worth of stock, and, if you do this wrong you will cause waste and availability issues affected the most important figures for the store. Later on in the placement you will be given the opportunity to test your research skills and work on your own or in a small team during project work. These projects aren't just simple worthless tasks. Examples include: advising your region on what actions should be taken during future seasonal events, how to improve ordering, causes of staff turnover just to name a few.

Having been worked hard on a daily basis I am sure that I will return to my final year in University as an extremely motivated and productive student. You will find that your attitude to work changes completely - you stop procrastinating and get the most out of the time you are working. Deadlines are a common thing in business and I have progressed to be organised with my time, plan and to seek advice wherever possible during my time with the company. One of the most exciting and rewarding parts of the placement is the opportunity to lead teams and act as a role model to them. This is not something that many people and certainly myself have experienced. You will find yourself being a lot more confident in every day situation whilst not being concerned to express how you feel in potentially awkward situations.

Office? You won't have much time to spend sat down in there! The atmosphere is very friendly and you will get on very well with you colleagues if you show character and eagerness. There is never a dull day in store and you will always be kept busy during your shifts. You will be expect to earn the respect of these people but they are there to help you and support you. When you are in Head Office the atmosphere is very professional but you will establish good working relationships with your colleagues and will work alongside the directors. This is a great opportunity to build your communication skills with people that are well up the company hierarchy.

The ALDI placement scheme is very clearly organised (as shown on the company website) and you will follow this all of the way. You will work in store, the warehouse and other departments of the business where you will be given projects and a change to get a really good understanding of how ALDI works. Some changes may be made to the structure shown but these are minimal and you will still complete all the areas that are shown. It's just to ensure you get the most out of the 12 months. ALDI work very hard to treat their employees well and you will know your days off 4 weeks in advance when working in store which is a big bonus.

The company will try it's up most to providing training and assistance to improve their employees. Your job role will change on a weekly basis and you will go up to the Assistant Manager position with in a number of months. Therefore, you will be guided through numerous roles and responsibilities during the short 12 month period. It is important that you push for guidance and personal training because it may not always be presented to you on a plate as you are expected to use your initiative to seek help when appropriate and it will always be there if you need it.

If you work hard, get a 2:1 and show that you have abilities in leadership and management then the ALDI area manager scheme will always have a place for you. As the company is expanding rapidly people are constantly getting promoted to directors, new stores and opening and there are lots of area manager spaces available to the right people. At this point I don't know if I have got a place on the Graduate Scheme but I have confidence that I have shown that I at least have some of the characteristics that match the requirements of the job description. I will however find out at the end of the placement.

You will establish are very good relationship with the fellow placement students. As they are going through exactly the same experiences and issues as you are, you will automatically discover a bond that will continue throughout the placement and you will become very good friends. Whilst working in store you will have the opportunity to enjoy a good social scene but you must always be aware that you need to maintain their respect for you so it is important that you don't rely too heavily on this social scene.

I lived in Sheffield with a fellow student which offered very good value for money. Most of my fellow placement students at ALDI were lucky enough to live at home so with the large salary they had a lot of spare money at the end of each month. There will be absolutely no concerns about money during you time with the company and you can afford to enjoy the summer after the placement has ended and before you go back to university which is a well earned break after an extremely fast paced year. The company are flexible with where you work so you are able to work anywhere in the UK (within reason). They will always try to put you into a nearby store to the town/city that you have requested.

Sheffield offered a fantastic nightlife as it a vibrant student city. You will find yourself able to afford and enjoy a much more classy variety of drinks and food rather than the pre-placement double vodka and coke. You won't be able to go out on nights out if you are working the next day but you will still find opportunities to enjoy the social scene in the area that you decide to chose. If you decide to live at home then you will already be accustomed to what is on offer to you.

As you are expected to work long hours you will find at times that you are a little limited in what you can do outside of your working hours. However, you will always have two days off a week and get 28 holiday days a year to enjoy your time off. I was lucky enough to be within running distance of the peak district and had the time to train for a half marathon as well as go out on my bike. One big bonus with the placement scheme is that as soon as you are finished work for the day then their is very little for you to worry about until you start your next shift. I feel this is different to university where you constantly feel like you should be doing some and can't just enjoy yourself and relax.