Placement Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my work placement at Lidl, I could not believe how quickly the year went and how packed the program was!

As the placement is designed around visiting several departments within the organisation, you have the opportunity to build a relationship with so many individuals. In all the departments I visited a was instantly made to feel a part of the team and was given a great level of responsibility from the beginning. All my colleagues helped me with my training and any questions I may have had.

I was given a great level of support. My Training consultant was always available to reach by telephone and email and would assist with any issues I faced regardless of which department I was in at that time. Within each of the departments I visited, all the managers I had to report to were so helpful, supportive and encouraging and enabled me to feel motivated in the departments.

My days varied depending on which department I was in. When I was working in store my days were extremely busy as there is so much to do from the checkouts to bakery to working delivery. In office based roles my days were still busy as there was several deadlines throughout the day to adhere too.

Lots of responsibility. In store I was trained as a duty manager which was a great experience. In other departments I became a member of the team and had the same daily tasks and responsibilities to meet as my other colleagues did. Whilst this was challenging initially I learnt so much about the departments and improved my skill base.

The skills I obtained and developed on my placement year at Lidl are extremely valuable and will be of use continuing my studies at university and in my future career. I gained experience on leadership, management, organisational skills and most importantly communication skills. My placement year certainly enabled me to grow as an individual.

I worked in so many different offices throughout the year, which all had a different atmosphere. Some offices with strict deadlines and intense tasks to complete were usually quite stressful and overwhelming initially, but once I was completing the same tasks as my colleagues the atmosphere suited. In other departments it was quite chatty as colleagues worked together and were constantly using the telephone so was particularly loud and vibrant.

Very organised. There was a training plan provided on the first day of placement which outlined the entire year. Then when I arrived at each individual department, I was provided with a training overview which allowed me to see which skills I would come out with. All the placement students from around the country would meet at several occasions within the year to compare our experiences and recommend a department to spend 8 weeks in, which was valuable to my learning.

This placement allows one to tailor their own program in addition to completing specific modules. Therefore, the training and development you got out of Lidl was focused primarily around what you put into it. My training consultant, my managers and my colleagues invested a great deal of time and support into my training and learning throughout the year.

The future employment prospects are extremely appealing, Lidl has a fantastic graduate program and other junior positions. I very much hope to continue my career at Lidl throughout my final year at University and after I have graduated.

During my time working in a Lidl store, I was invited to the Christmas event which was good fun. It allowed me to get to know my colleagues better away from the work place. During our two week period in head office, half of the placement students stayed in Wimbledon for two weeks which allowed us all to get to know each other in a different environment.

I moved around throughout the year. I spent some of my time living in Brighton, in Kent, in London and in Portsmouth. Therefore all of those areas had different costs of living and the amount of socialising. On the whole the cost of living was not too excessive it was manageable throughout the year.

In London, Portsmouth and Brighton the nightlife was great, there were lots of restaurants, bars and pubs which we visited regularly. During my time in Kent I did not really experience the night life as I did not live near the area.

There were some opportunities but I am quite active outside of work anyway. There was a bananaman triathlon which all Lidl employees had the chance to participate in and the Summer Lidl fun day.