Industrial placement Review

There was a vast amount of variety throughout the role including working in store to working in the Regional Distribution Centre to working in the warehouse. This meant that the placement was always interesting and you were always learning new things.

You are sent straight into a store and initially know nothing about Aldi so you find yourself getting to know people really well as they teach you about the different aspects of the company and the job role.

You are given an Area Manager mentor, you are mentored in store and you also have contacts at the Head Office that act as your senior level mentors. If you have any issues then the Area Managers encourage you to contact them.

In store you are always on your feet, for ten hours a day. Given the amount of jobs that have to be done in store you are always busy. When in Head office, you are given individual or group projects which keeps you busy as you have a deadline to finish the projects by.

During store time you progress to Assistant Manager position which means that you are running the store by yourself, you are in charge of the safe and are expected to order which are all a lot of responsibility. In Head Office you manage your own time for project work which, again, allows you to take responsibility of your own work.

Throughout the placement you communicate with various levels of the company including store assistants, store managers, directors and the managing director. These experiences improve your communication skills which you can apply to many different aspects of your life.

The atmosphere in the Head Office was really friendly. You are encouraged to talk to the directors and say good morning/goodbye to all of the office staff. During the placement you spend six weeks going round each department of Head Office which allows you to talk to lots of different people in each department and build good relationships.

Aldi invest a lot of time in training you and making sure you understand every aspect of the company and how it works. For instance, in seven months you are trained to assistant store manager level which means that store staff have to invest a lot of time and effort with you. You are then shown every department of Head Office (including the warehouse) which means that numerous staff members have to spend time with you to make sure you understand everything.

The level of training that the industrial placement year gives you prepares you very well for the role of the Area Manager.

During Head Office time you spend a lot of time with the other industrial placement students and are encouraged to contact them throughout the experience. Naturally, you develop good relationships with them as you are all going through the same experience and you spend a lots of time together.

I stayed in the flat that I rented with my friends from university so it was the same cost as being at university.

It was the same area as my university so I could socialise with my university friends still and go to the same places I would had I still been at university.

As you are given the contacts of the other industrial placement students you can decide between yourselves to meet up outside of work which we did.