Undergraduate Placement Student Review

My experience at Lidl has been a very enjoyable one to say the least. The opportunity to work in various areas of the business, is one that was very unique and made 100% sure that my interest in my work was always at a high level. In addition to this we had the opportunity as placement students we were given a two week period in which we visited Lidl UK head office and were assigned a department of our interest. In which I was able to get my teeth into some very enjoyable projects and felt extremely welcomed to the team. Overall my time at Lidl has been fantastic and really opened my eyes to the different opportunities around once graduating.

Almost every individual I have worked with has been an absolute pleasure. I felt very welcomed from day one and felt my colleagues weren’t just colleagues, but also potential friends for life. In any aspect of your career, there is bound to be a few hiccups, or awkward situations, however with Lidl I can’t remember even one of these. You are consistently working with new people and they are always quick to praise or even constructively help you with your work.

Management is always around you, and always changing, which is due to the fact you do move around several areas of the business. My manager in sales was probably the best manager I have ever work with, his support and help to me was above any expectation. There was a few occasions when I may have felt support wasn’t at its best, but I can say this is probably due to the fact of how busy a day in retail can be. However with the right mind-set and approach management they are quick to guide you back on the correct path for the best development for you. On top of this main supervisor/contact, has been outstanding throughout.

99% of the time you are always working, always given a task. On many occasions you will have more than one task to complete at time. In particular the days working in sales will fly by as you are on your feet most of day, and kept extremely busy. The scheme has massively help my organisation skills for sure.

A huge amount, whether it was running store operations or having meetings. In addition my personal experience at head office, saw me have several projects, where I was allowed to personally contact suppliers or help oversee national operations. I also found the scheme amazing at letting you ask for extra responsibility. If I felt I could do an additional job, I would just ask and 9/10 someone new to you and your work would give you a task to aid them on.

In regards to my degree, the placement was a completely different type of environment, although the management skills and organisational skills I have developed over the past 10months, will help me a huge amount, when it comes to my final year of studies. Going forward and beyond my degree the skills I have developed and potential connection for future career aspiration are amazing. The value this has added to me as an individual is great, furthermore the role provides an amazing addition to my CV.

For me the people has been the best part about my time with Lidl. No matter what department or area I have been in, the colleagues I have had, have made the job even better. Relaxed as well as extremely professional, I found that everyone has in general been friends as well as colleagues.

Overall the scheme had an excellent structure, giving you the ability to work in several areas of business for a given period, some areas longer than others. I was always made aware of any additional training days I was due to be doing, or whenever I was being moved around to experience a new department. The one downfall for me has been on a few occasions department managers, where unaware of the dates I was going to be working with them, which made the first few days in these departments less structured.

Lidl have never been afraid to hold back on investing in my development. From working in stores, I regularly attended training academies, which transport and even hotels were paid for. Within the additional department, there was typical a structured training plan of work and targets for you to achieve within the timeframe.

During my time I have been able to have contact with either fellow placement students or prior students. Many of those have gone on to securing roles for this year now graduating. In addition, keeping contact with higher level employees within the company appears to be a very good suggestion, as they may be able to give references of work done during my placement in the possibility of applying for either a fulltime role or a graduate role.

Over the course of the placement we as placement had a few occasions where we would have national meetings, or spend a period of time with each other during our time at head office. On these occasions the social aspect was at its highest, even being joined by your management or supervisors who are quick to build a relationship with you away from work.

This is very much dependent on the location of your RDC (where you spend the largest amount of your time). For me it was only a 25mile commute and rent prices in my area aren’t crazy at all. I would also add when working in London for a period, the company pay you a daily allowance for being away from your normal home address.

There are a group of universities not very far from the areas in which I have been working in, meaning the nightlife is what you make of it, extremely busy on most nights of the weeks. Furthermore there is also lots of sociable pubs, which are always pleasant on a Friday evening.

In my region I occasionally got involved in a weekly pub quiz, which was always a good laugh after work. As well as having a 5-a-side football team within one office. In addition there has been several offers to completely charity runs/walks/bike rides. As well as opportunities to win prices for things like FA Cup final tickets.