Placement Student Review

This year has been one of the hardest yet rewarding years I have ever had. I've experienced some serious highs and lows but the highs have always been so much higher. The challenging nature of the business means that you get genuine job satisfaction from your work at all stages, be that right at the start when doing store assistant training and finally hitting a time target, or closer to the end when you're delivering projects to various directors and receiving great feedback. Not to mention the great people you meet along the way who could potentially end up being friends for life.

I have always felt valued by my colleagues. I made a huge effort to learn the job and ask as many questions as possible to look like I was really trying which I think the people around me appreciated and I earned their respect as a result. ALDI is a company which will always look after its employees, especially those which are willing to put in 110% and go the extra mile for their colleagues and the business. It could be quite easy to get lost in the system in such a large company with so many trainees, but I have never felt undervalued or forgotten about.

Support is always there for those who ask for it. Your store manager will always help with anything during store time, your area manager mentor will always help with anything throughout the entire year and when you're in head office doing project work the director or relevant team assistant is always there to help. There are also numerous store workbooks for all levels which detail virtually all aspects of the job if it is a quantifiable issue.

Extremely busy. There is never a dull moment with ALDI. When in stores on a store shift I would manage to walk up to 25,000 steps round a relatively small store. When in head office the work is much less physical but you are given multiple projects at once and expected to hand them all in by the deadline meaning you would be largely in control of your own time.

From day one you are handed the keys to a store, by week 4 most people will be starting their management training. Usually starts with the 5am's, meaning you would be the first one in and responsible for setting up the shift for the rest of the day. Further into your time in store you will end up training new staff members as you are seen as a fully trained member of the management team. I knew there would be responsibility given, but it definitely surpassed my expectations.

If I was to list all the transferrable skills I have learnt this year I would very quickly run out of space. There are the obvious ones you'd expect to gain from most jobs like time management and organisation, but there are so many more which I think only ALDI could have provided me with. For example I know how to manage fairly large teams of people, I am so much more comfortable presenting in front of all different types of people, I know how to go and find relevant information by myself and have become a much more independent person as a result. Not to mention my ALDI specific knowledge, who knew there was so much to learn about produce and bread.

In the office there is a very professional atmosphere. There is a strict clear desk policy which means it looks very clinical throughout. Although the new building is very good looking and seems to have had a really positive affect on everyone's mood, there is still something slightly uneasy about the atmosphere. Slightly like people aren't allowed to talk to one and other. On the other hand however, the office is very open and people from all departments do seems to have good relationships with each other, and the directors are often out and about with in the office and seem very approachable.

Generally the placement is laid out very well, you know right from the start what you are supposed to be doing and what tasks you should be completing. However in practice there were huge discrepancies between what you were doing and what you should be doing. Particularly during the store time, I sometimes had to push for managerial responsibilities in order to remain on track. Or during the head office times, certain departments were much more well organised than others, the plan was very clear as to where we were supposed to be when. It was then down to the various departments to organise our activities and projects within each, some were very well done, some weren't. The phrase 'typical IP project' was coined after the first time we alphabetised some boxes.

I really don't think I could have learnt much more than I have from ALDI. Everything you want to do is there if you ask for it. I don't think it would be overly suited to someone who isn't willing to get stuck in or say something if they feel an injustice or even just if they want help. I personally found that everything I could have possibly wanted was there as long as you look in the right places. I mentioned before some of the personal skills I have developed and the list really is endless. Training and development is definitely something that ALDI does well.

I would love to come back and work for ALDI. If at the end of this placement I am offered a job I would definitely come back.

This definitely one of the things ALDI doesn't do well. There is only really the opportunity to meet your fellow IPs across the UK twice a year at the national IP day, which is really good but seen as much more for the development of the IP programme for following years than for the IPs themselves. However it is still a really good social day and a great way to network with colleagues across the country. Following that you only really meet your IP colleagues in your own region once you reach the head office stage, 7 months prior to starting the programme. There are no formal events for us to get to know each other or meet socially. There are a lot of events in place for the area management team and I feel the IPs are forgotten about socially. There are no teams or extra curricular events to get involved with like most companies of this size offer. I feel ALDI under estimates the power of a team that really enjoy working with each other, and dismiss harnessing any potential team building activities.

I lived in the same university area and so everything was just as cheap and easy as living at university. Socialising as mentioned above was completely outside of work and so again was a good price. ALDI usually tries to put you in stores closes to your house to make it as convenient as possible.

nightlife in Manchester is great.

As mentioned above, there are no opportunities to get involved in anything outside of work for IPs.