Marketing Industrial Placement Review

My placement year was really enjoyable. I enjoyed the rotational aspect of my placement as it allowed me to widen my skillset and also network with numerous members and stakeholders of the business. I was given independent projects and thus this autonomy motivated me at work. Although there is a considerably smaller Head Office placement intake than other companies, I found it easy to make great connections with colleagues and I met up socially with the other IP's on numerous occasions.

I did feel valued by my colleagues as I was treated no different for being a placement student. I worked well across all of the channels with the different teams and I felt my colleagues trusted me and were confident in my skillset/ability. Often I utilised my knowledge from other channels to aid myself and my colleagues on a different channel.

I feel at Aldi although you are given a notable workload and you are individually accountable for that, you are also given a great amount of support. I not only had 1:1's with my line manager, in which I could discuss my progress and work life but I also had weekly 1:1's with my direct lead and my manager for my individual side project. I also had a personnel lead of whom I could privately raise any concerns/HR related issues.

I worked a 50-hour contract and found that I was busy for my entire day. I do however think this is a good thing as it allowed me to maximise my learning, I found that every day went quickly. I do think its important to note that I rarely felt the need to stay behind/work over my hours - allowing me to manage my work life balance.

I was given a large responsibility. At Aldi, I believe accountability is encouraged, this is great for personal development. I had a great deal of responsibility in my actual role and my independent projects meant I had a huge amount of autonomy.

I think this placement was extremely useful and pivotal in developing my skillset. University teaches you knowledge and some transferrable skills but I think my placement year greatly developed my commercial awareness. My organisation skills have been greatly developed, due to having to manage numerous projects and a full time role, and thus this will be useful when going back to university and writing my dissertation.

The office was a great place to work as I liked having my own work space. The office can also be quiet which allows you to get a considerable amount of work done. Everyone is friendly and approachable and the canteen provides a good place to break off and get away from your desk. There is also a woodland walk which is nice to do at lunch to get out of the office with colleagues/co-workers.

I think a great deal of organisation went into my training plan. I was given a ten week training plan to allow me a general introduction to Aldi as a company and also specifically to my role. I was given a full introduction to all of the programs I would be working with and a chance to meet key contacts. My training of course was adapted and the plan did change, however this was due to unpredictable circumstances.

I do think I had a great amount of training and development offered to me. I was treated as a full time employee and I was included in all team training. I could personally choose to enrol myself in courses via our learning platform and I was also included in wider team training.

There are great opportunities for graduates within the organisation however most graduates take the Area Manager route. There is not currently a graduate scheme in the UK for any corporate buying positions - I would have applied and put myself forwards for this if it was available to apply for.

There was one organised day to meet all of the national IP's. The company did not facilitate any other IP events, however we took it on ourselves to meet up outside of work and to go for meals/go out. Also, I was included in the marketing team's out of work social life as my team were all mainly young professionals. We would organise to go out for lunches in work time and then sometimes meet up at the weekend. We had a great Christmas party organised by the marketing team.

Unfortunately I cannot comment on this because I lived at home and then commuted to work. I live about 50 miles away from head office. I do think however the cost of living and socialising in the local area is reasonable. For all meals I've been at local restaurants they appear to be average prices.

I have never been out in the area where I work as I lived at home so I mainly went out in my local area/neighbouring cities. One of my friends on the placement scheme lived in Birmingham and commuted and I think the nightlife is great in Birmingham. In Atherstone/Nuneaton and surrounding areas I would say it is pretty quiet.

There wasn't many activities outside of work. There is a football team and netball team available for the entire head office. The marketing team was sociable though and we would therefore organise birthday meals and nights outs. Also as a group of IP's we would organise out of work activities including meals and nights out.