Retail Management Placement Review

The purpose of my placement was to see whether retail, and in particular Aldi was for me; the most important aspect was the structure of the year. This was to ensure it was well planned to give me excellent exposure to many aspects of the business. I found that Aldi more than passed my expectations in this area, giving me a detailed training plan even before I started. The exposure to different aspects of the business was really good giving me sufficient time in store and also in head office. I really enjoyed my placement and found the responsibility placed upon me as a 20 year old was better than any other placement I researched.

I felt a very strong sense of team and personal value whilst at Aldi. I found that people were very genuine and wanted to help you. In particular when working in the office and in the warehouse employees were particular forthcoming in trying to help you gain skills and progress. Also people had an interest in my life outside of work which I valued. However, I also found that some of the area managers were not team players, and only worked to their own agenda with their own interests in mind. As a placement student wanting to learn the business, this aspect was a push factor for me to come back in the graduate job.

The support and guidance was definitely very impressive. On day 1 I was nominated a mentor who was an experienced area manager. This person constantly helped me to improve as an individual and went out of his way to help me when I was working in and out of store. I also had updates with my director giving me feedback as to my progress and how I could improve. The common theme of constant feedback really helped me to improve as in individual throughout the year.

The year is certainly very hard work and often I would have to push myself to work hard. However, as people in the team also worked very hard this gave me the mentality that it is common practice, so therefore was not a problem. I would never have nothing to do, always doing work which I believe adds to the business.

The responsibility throughout the year was certainly my favourite aspect. Being fresh from university and within a month having the power of managing a store on my own, in many cases, was of real value to me. I really enjoyed managing a team of people, motivating them and completing a store close on my own. In discussions with other placement students I found that their level of responsibility was nothing near what I had exposure to. I certainly gained many life skills from this.

The skills I learnt have not been directly linked to academic purposes of university. however in terms of skills for completely assignments such as communication, organisation, and the ability to work as a team, I have vastly improved. To the point on me returning to university, my peers have commented that I have changed and improved as an individual. Should I not be successful in gaining an offer for the graduate scheme, I will still have benefitted from my time at Aldi and the transferrable skills I have learnt will be useful in any career path I pursue.

The office atmosphere was very upbeat with everyone being friendly and open to conversation providing help and support. The office environment was very comfortable, providing a strong environment for me to complete my project work

The placement was very well organised giving me a detailed plan before I started. I also had the opportunity to meet with my mentor before the placement to ask questions and gain an understating of the format. Although the plan did change marginally, it still allowed me to plan my year and set my expectations for everything to come.

Personal development was very high on the agenda, with 2 'Industrial Placement Days' to allow placements to meet and share insight into the business. Also, when in the office and warehouse, we were given many training days by different members of staff as rotations around the office and shadowing were common practice.

The opportunity to come back, should I be successful, is very open and often spoken about. The level of the progression within the business is very real and easy to see, giving me a positive view on prospects with the business. As Aldi is going through vast expansion, many job opportunities are available for me should I wish to accept.

Fortunately the relationship between the placement students was very positive with regular lunches and out of work events being organised. Aldi arranged a few social occasions for placement students to meet, however in store this organisation could have been stronger.

Living in the North West, I was lucky enough to live at home during my placement. However, the general area is very affordable to live in with there being many large cities to explore day and night.

I lived near to Liverpool and Manchester, so the nightlife was brilliant with a great number of bars and clubs to entertain free evenings.

As I lived near to Liverpool and Manchester there were of number of opportunities to get involved outside of work. I was a member of a gym and joined many classes and societies in relation to this. I also undertake language classes at the local university to improve my skills not only in the workplace.