Industrial Placement Review

I really enjoyed my time with Aldi, while it's no secret that it's a challenging environment to work in, if you put in the work and effort there can be some great rewards at the end and throughout. Likewise the variety of tasks you get involved with only adds the enjoyment of the role as you get to see the requirements of the business from different points of view depending on which department you're spending time with.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues both in store and in head office. In store you become an essential part of the store team and without your effort and input things wouldn't be getting done. Early on you begin to understand just how valued your work is as it directly impacts the success of the store. Again in the head office environment the projects you carry out are vitally important to that department and so your colleagues around you value the work you're doing as your findings could have a substantial impact on part of their jobs.

Overall I was impressed with the way the year was planned and monitored. You follow a structured training plan throughout the year which ensures you don't miss out any areas that make up the IP role. The people in this company couldn't have been nicer and you always knew there was someone you could go to whether it was for a query, support, guidance or anything else for that matter.

Very busy, Aldi a very demanding and faced paced environment. You would never find yourself bored or with nothing to do as there was always something to be getting on with and quite often those things were very important to both store operations and other departments. After all you are in a management role and so many things fall into your area of responsibility. This is something I really liked about the job and so long as it doesn't go too far the days actually fly by and you end up learning and achieving so much.

You're given a massive amount of responsibility at Aldi. It's not the sort of placement where you're photocopying and making coffees. It's very hands on and you are responsible for the completion of a magnitude of tasks. They really test you and give you this responsibility so you can show what you're really capable of. The IP year is essentially the precursor to the area manager role and this level of responsibility and to an extent autonomy is something I love about this job. It's really down to you to organise yourself to ensure you complete your work to the highest standard and on time. This is what keeps everything so ticking over as quite often people are relying on your to do your job well so they can do there's.

I have no doubt the skills I've learned at Aldi will go onto serve me well in my final year of study and beyond. Having extensive real world business experience in a growing thriving business in a role that's extremely challenging has provided me with invaluable skills. As a result of my time at Aldi I feel as though everything I do now has this real Aldi feel to it where efficiency and attention to detail is at the core of the work I produce.

The general atmosphere in the office was good, its a very corporate environment but everyone is super friendly and many of the office staff have been with the company for a long time and so its easy to develop good working relationship with. The highlight for me was just going from department to department and getting the same friendly atmosphere.

Very organised. I think Aldi puts a real focus on its IP scheme, you're in an important role while you're with the company and due to its connections with the area manager role post university and just in general the demands of placement, Aldi ensures everything is taken care of and you can get the best possible level of training and exposure to the business.

Again, I think Aldi across the board invests in its people and their development. I can say from my own experience I've had almost endless opportunities to personally train and develop myself. I think the way you're trained and managed has a lot to do with that. You're constantly getting feedback that you can utilise to improve yourself and intern improves others that you might be managing.

I think future prospects are good but you have to have proven yourself across the full year. The placement is designed to be challenging so they can really see what you're all about. It's not talked about much and I'm not quite finished yet so its hard to say but I've talked with guys who were previously on the placement scheme who are now back with the company. So it seems as though there are opportunities.

I was actually the only IP in my region however there was a two day IP induction event in which other IP's from other regions came together and the social scene amongst those guys seemed good.

I lived in a city and the rent wasn't too bad. I did have to move a considerable distance for this placement but it wasn't even a thought for me I knew I wanted to be working for Aldi. Socialising was quite hard because of the hours I was working and the demands of the job. But so long as you've got some good flatmates its not too bad. Fuel was probably the big cost as there is a lot of travelling involved in the role.

Living in a city was great there was endless restaurants, bars and pubs to go to.

Occasionally there was events for raising money for charity. Golf tournaments, football tournaments, three peaks style challenges etc. But outwith this there wasn't that many opportunities.