Industrial Placement Student Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Aldi and would highly recommend it to second year University students contemplating undertaking a year in industry. The year is challenging in many ways but ultimately highly rewarding. I have gained numerous skills during the year and will leave a more stronger, more resilient and confident individual.

During the placement you receive the opportunity to meet many individuals from store teams, area manager teams or departmental teams at head office. When working alongside these individuals I would always feel like a valuable member of the team. As a placement student at Aldi you are see as part of the team immediately. The degree to which one feels valued is dependent on how hard you work. The harder you work and the more respect you can gain from your store team, the more valued you be and feel.

When on placement you are provided with an intensive training programme, as part of this programme I was provided with a specific mentor. At all times during my placement , I was aware of and provided with support/ guidance from both my direct and personnel leader. Many individuals refer to the first few months of your career at Aldi as a 'sink or swim' experience and because of this one can feel overwhelmed and unsupported. Despite this there will always be a support mechanism available , it may just be that you need to seek this guidance yourself.

The Aldi placement year is incredibly intensive and you will find that you are always busy. When in store, it often feels as though there are not enough hours in the day to complete the necessary tasks. To me, this was a positive thing as I was constantly on the go and challenged on a daily basis. Indeed it is rare to have a quiet day when on placement at Aldi which is fitting with the nature and demands of working in a fast-paced retail company.

Aldi is well known for providing their placement students with high levels of responsibility during their placement year, To me, this is a distinguishing feature that sets Aldi aside from competitor placements. From the very beginning you are given high levels of responsibility and are expected to run a store within the first six months of the placement. Whilst at head office this level of responsibility continues when you are given project work which may impact on the company regionally. The responsibility that I was provided with on my placement year has helped me to develop skills such as leadership, discipline and resilience, skills in which I do not think I would have developed before graduating University if not for participating in the Aldi placement.

I believe that my placement year will assist me greatly in my final year of University and when I enter the job market following graduation. The placement has provided me with skills such as time management, organisation and discipline , skills which will help me when studying and writing my dissertation in my final year. I also believe that the Aldi placement has developed my levels of efficiency and thus I will be more productive in final year. In terms of my training, my placement year has allowed me to develop leadership skills.I feel confident in the fact that I will graduate University having led and managed a team of individuals, Indeed , I feel this will set me apart from many other graduates who are unlikely to have experienced this level of training at such a young age and before graduating University.

The office is a comfortable and approachable environment which despite being incredibly focused and work driven, still allows for fun.

The placement was incredibly organised. You are provided with a outline of the year before starting the placement and this changes very little during the year. You are always made of aware of where you should be , what is expected of you and how you can achieve it.

I feel like Aldi has invested greatly in me as a placement student. I have been trained throughout the year in many different areas of the business and indeed a great deal of time has been spent on my development. One important point to note is that although the training and development is available within the company, it is important that one drives their own development and ensures they receive the training they require. There is an expectation at Aldi that individuals take responsibility for their own development and indeed if one does not do so, you will quickly fall behind those who do.

The natural progression for a placement student is to graduate and return as a training area manager. This is made clear from the beginning of the placement so that those interested can work towards this goal.

The first 8 months of my placement was spent in store. During this time, I rarely saw the other 10 IP students. Shift work in store can make socialising difficult and indeed it is challenging to maintain a healthy work life balance, During the final 4 months of the placement I have been at head office which has allowed me to develop greater relationships with fellow placement students, There are no social events organised through work so the degree to which you socialise with work colleagues is greatly dependent on your own organisation,

Based around the Liverpool - inexpensive.

Again based around Liverpool which offers a good night life for students

I was never aware of any opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work that were arranged by work.