Industrial Placement Review

Working at Aldi has instilled in me many proficiencies and habits which will surely put me in good stead at any endeavour that I pursue. This is from the constant pressures and high standards that you face on a daily basis, along with the scrutinisation of everything you complete at Aldi. It was incredibly challenging work, very demanding and often a little too much but it has given me more determination. I would say in many occasions, you are completing thankless tasks, this can pile up on you and give you a negative view of the company.

As above you are often left questioning your efforts due to unwarranted scrutiny of your work. You can complete 99 jobs to a high standard but if you underperform on 1 then you are going to hear about it. The colleagues in store for the most part were lovely, obviously as with all walks of life there are some people who are unpleasant but that is to be expected.

I would have liked more guidance in the form of real life experiences in the jobs from my Area Managers, particularly in how they would handle certain personal situations in management. The SOD I dealt with was amazing, always said the right thing and brought me and my focus back on track.

Never enough hours in the day to complete all tasks, all whilst managing a team of individuals and all the background tasks etc. Store time in particular was challenging in this regard however I am thankful as I am much more capable at time management and organisation skills have become second nature.

You are given a huge amount of responsibility instantly at Aldi which is brilliant. The role is so challenging and you get thrown in at the deepend but it is a good way to learn and you often land on your feet and can be proud of what you achieve. In head office you are working alongside the directors on a daily basis completing projects which can go to national level which is such a rewarding feeling.

Time management, organisations, determination and will, more focussed, professional, diligence. All of these are things I've picked up which will be very useful in my future degree studies. I know that I can do these long hours in the library now to produce better pieces of work and this will be apparent in my dissertation work (hopefully).

Everyone has a can do attitude in Aldi and as we are all aiming for the same goal this is brilliant. As before the store teams are all very friendly and this is no different in head office. I would say the front line teams are the driving force in Aldi and the atmosphere was a positive one.

Store time training was well structured in principle but at often times I felt underutilised and not doing the management tasks that I know I could do with the training and was often used as another pair of hands. This left me underperformed for my ASM time in the next stores. In head office, at often times, teams were unprepared to speak to us and so we were often completing minor tasks like scanning. But after the induction for the first two weeks everything become more structured.

I would never have imagined myself successfully running a supermarket with a big team and even bigger targets. I have completed first aid training. I would have liked more formal management training that the store managers and area managers get but we were not invited to any of these lectures on any occasion.

There is a clear structure to promotions in Aldi and so there are huge prospects. With the number of stores and regions ever growing in the country there are surely many roles available from area manager level to director level. Additionally big roles in the warehouse can be undertaken too.

It would not be in my interest as a manager to go out with store staff. Whilst in head office you get to work daily with the other industrial placement students and get to know them more which is nice as they are quite often on a similar wavelength to you.

Lived at home with family.

As above I didn't go out with store staff.

Yes there were various things organised in order to raise more for charities such as Teenage Cancer Trust. Thing varied from football, golf, bake sales, walks and othe interesting ways to raise money. No events were organised for the sake of it, they always had a purpose to raise money quite often.