Industrial Placement Student Review

The Aldi industrial placement scheme is a lot of hard work, however you get such a large amount of responsibility that it's worth all the hard work. You get enough time in stores to be able to see a change from your work and it's a great feeling knowing that you've made an impact on real, current business projects.

Value is definitely an aspect that is big during the Aldi placement. The training and time that goes into the placement is next level. You feel valued as a manager, and you are trusted so much almost immediately. After your 5 week store assistant training you will be given the keys to a store and get the chance to run shifts, this is something that my friends on other placements definitely didn't get the exposure to!

The support and training you receive from Aldi is excellent, you are constantly given feedback from your colleagues and follow a very structured plan during the whole year. You get assigned an Area Manager mentor for the whole duration and this is someone that you can go to with any matters whether it be work or home life. Something that we did this year was to ensure that we kept in touch with the other industrial placement students whether this was simply just to touch base or query anything that people may not want to discuss with their area managers.

Prior to my placement, I read somewhere that the Aldi Industrial Placement is not for the faint hearted, this is something I would definitely agree with. You are constantly busy from start to finish whether this is during your store time, area manager shadow time or head office training.

As I've already mentioned, the responsibility given whilst on placement is massive. Within a few months of being with the company, you will be running a whole store team, managing them on a day to day basis. Some of the team members may have worked in the store for 20 years and are much more experienced that you as a store assistant, however from my experience everyone gave me the respect and if you prove yourself to them then there is no reason you won't receive this. My advise to you would be to get to know everyone, get stuck in with the work and prove to the whole team that you are a valued member and want to work hard for them and the store.

I feel the placement year has made me a more well rounded individual. My time management and organisational skills have improved drastically, and although I considered my communication skills strong prior to the placement, there is always room for improvement and this is something that has also improved along with my confidence.

To mark this question a ten the requirement is "10= Fun Never Stopped!", I feel that this is the wrong wording to describe the head office. The atmosphere in the head office is friendly inviting & professional. Everyone is polite and again, just like store time if you ask the relevant questions, work hard and try to build relationships, then you should have a good experience.

The placement is extremely organised from start to finish. Each student receives a structured plan at the start detailing the whole year and where you will be located/who your mentor will be etc. You have a structured training plan with workbooks that you are able to go through, and at the end of the store time, there is a 7 week grading period that allows you to review where you stand with regards to your assistant management training. You also have weekly updates with your area manager and at least 3/4 updates with your store operations directors throughout the year, as well as the final interview at the end of the placement with the managing director.

You are given a chance to come back at the end of university and start as an area manager. This completely depends on your performance during the placement so is entirely in your hands. I would treat the placement as a year long interview. The positive of this is that you know when you are back at university for your final year that you have secured a graduate job (must get minimum of a 2:1).

This question is what you make it, if you want to socialise with the other industrial placement students then that's fine, you can organise this between yourselves. As well as this, Aldi organised a welcoming meal, a christmas meal and a final meal that you are invited to, this is a good chance to catch up with the other students in a more relaxed environment.

I was based in Liverpool for my placement in a student area and therefore is generally very reasonable depending on where you choose to live/socialise.

Liverpool has a great nightlife for all kinds of music/interests.

Some of the Area Managers are involved in various sports teams and if you wanted to, you could have joined these with them.