Industrial placement student Review

I really enjoyed my placement at Aldi as I got involved within a variety of jobs and they really pushed you throughout the year. Although tiring I learnt so much and really developed my skills such as interpersonal and time management as well as improving my confidence day by day.

During my time in store I felt very valued by my colleagues as you are their manager and they listen and respect you. You develop really good relationships in store with your staff in store. In head office it is harder to build good relationships as you are constantly in different departments. However this has its benefits as you get to meet a lot of people.

I was given a lot of support by my manager throughout. I always felt I could ask for help when I needed it.

In store it is very difficult to have a good work life balance as you are working a mixed shift pattern each week Monday- Friday and five ten hour shifts a week, plus extra time. Therefore it Is hard trying to complete all of your online tests on top of this. In head office the pace is slowed time and you have a bit more time to complete tasks, however you are still always busy.

I was given a lot of responsibility. this ranged from running as store in the first couple of months to finding the appropriate location of a new store for the company.

My confidence and presenting skills increased which is beneficial for university for when I do presentations. I improved my time management which is helpful as it means I get more done in a day and I know how to prioritise my time efficiently to get everything done.

in head office it can be quiet and tense but sometimes a more lighter and lively atmosphere

It was set up well. Occasionally we would have to chase them for times and meetings or they would move or be late to our meetings.

The company invested a lot of time and training into us during store time. I would have liked to have seen this from each department during head office time so that I could learnt about what each department did in more detail.

They are appealing as they offer a great graduate scheme and now that I have completed the placement it gives me a head start.

Although I got along with the other placement students very well I wasn't able to spend much time socially with them. It isn't encouraged by Aldi to have social nights with them and over the year we only went out twice.

I lived at home during my placement which was very beneficial. The area that I worked in is very affordable and socialble

The night life isn't great, the closest city is Liverpool which isn't always ideal for every placement student to get to.

There were a couple of sporting activities but apart from this I wasn't made aware of any others throughout the year.