Industrial Placment Review

The year with Aldi was a highly challenging one but also a thoroughly enjoyable one. They say at the start of the placement that it will be the quickest year of your life and whenever anyone says something like that you are always sceptical however, this was definitely the case for Aldi, the year has flown by. There will definitely be some high points due to the amount of responsibility you are given but also be prepared for some serious low points! You'll sometimes question why you are doing this to yourself, working retail hours under a lot of pressure, but it will be worth it in the end, so stick at it!!

This very much varied within the different sectors of the business. You will spend time in head office and this is much more relaxed, you will be very much mothered by the assistants and can form very good working relationships. When you are in store, it can vary much more and very much depends on the culture engrained in that store to how you will be treated. On the most part though you will be treated at the same level as a Trainee Area Manager, so are very much treated with respect.

I again had quite a varied experience of this. I had two different mentors over my time with the company, and had very different relationships with both of them. However, with both of them if ever I had a problem they would endeavour to support me. In terms of support during your time in store it depends on the store manager who is training you to how much time they will spend with you.

At Aldi you don't stop! You work 10 hour days at a minimum and are expected to fully commit yourself to Aldi. The amount of responsibility you are given isn't like any other placement. Myself and two of the other IPs were given the responsibilty to allocate all the Christmas stock and places orders for the first 3 days of January for all the stores in the region. Trust me, you will never be bored!!

Like I have previously said you won't get this level of responsibility on other placements! The tasks that are set in the head office time come from director level and have serious consequences regarding the overall success of the company! In store you will be given keys to open and close the store and be put in charge of serious amounts of money when holding the safe. In the absence of the store manager you will literally be running the store!!

The experience and training you get from this placement is priceless. My confidence over the year has developed significantly, at the start of the year I could never imagine running shifts in store and managing upwards of 20 staff in store. I have gained skills for life that are transferable to other sectors, not just retail. If nothing else the fact that you complete a year with Aldi on one of the toughest placement schemes in the country will speak wonders on anyone's CV.

During the head office time the atmosphere is great! You will be based in the same office as the directors who will assign you important task to complete. You will make good working relationships with the assistants in the office and can have a laugh and a joke as long as the work is completed to a high standard and on time. You also aren't micromanaged and have the benefit of managing your own time as long as the work is completed properly.

If I was scoring based on what my year looked like compared to the original plan I would score a 1. However, on the most part the changes were made for my own benefit. My plan changed to bring my head office time forward to Christmas to work on a 3 month project with two other IPs, which was fantastic. This did mean my store training was quite fragmented though and perhaps wasn't delivered to the standard it could have been.

Like I have said previously I believe that my store training suffered due to it being fragmented. I also found that it was my responsibility to ask for further training as otherwise it wouldn't be provided, so you have to use your initiative and push for training in areas you feel you need development. The training that is provided though is on balance very good.

They are reasonably good. The placement scheme is very much seen as a stepping stone to the graduate Trainee Area Manager programme and as long as you impress over the year enough then you will be asked to come back providing you get a 2:1. However, this is the only scheme that they offer so if you complete the year and excell in something else e.g. Data analysis then there are no real opportunities in a role in those areas.

As I was put on a 3 month project with 2 other IPs we naturally formed a good friendship. It was interesting that all 3 of us go to Loughborough university, I'm not sure if this was conincidence or Aldi organised this but it worked out well as we get on really well and I will be living with one of them next year. However, the company didn't really encourage this, and you cannot socialise with people below you in the hierarchy outside of work.

I lived at home, so the the cost of living was minimal meaning I could save much of what I earned. The company try and base you in your preferred location which I found was good.

When I was in store in Derby which is where I live the nightlife wasn't great. However, when in head office which is near Birmingham me and the other two IPs went on a few nights out which were good fun. When you are working in store you work retail hours though so don't really have the chance to go out!

There wasn't really anything at all. The only thing that was put on we're two overnight stays in Manchester at the start of the year and the end, where all the IPs from the country go and discuss the year ahead/review the year. You don't really have time for many other activities though. I definitely found my social life suffered at the expense of working for Aldi but I believe it was worth it.