Industrial Placement Review

The placement was very tough and it requires a huge commitment to succeed, but it has been extremely rewarding throughout because you are constantly being pushed to improve. I loved working with my store teams who have an incredible team spirit that makes all the hard work enjoyable. Moving into the head office side of the operation was also an interesting challenge and the project work that I carried out was a great chance to try and put into practice everything that I learnt in the previous 6 months.

The culture within Aldi is very much one of working as a team and demanding the best from one another. The longer I worked in store the more I felt part of that team and whenever I go back into stores now I still feel as much a part of the time as when I was in store. The coronavirus has meant that at a management level it has been difficult to interact with Area Managers given the social distancing but whenever I have had any questions they have always been very positive and friendly in offering their support.

The level of feedback that placement students receive is a big part of the Aldi process. This enables you to improve because you constantly know where your mentor wants to see you develop and the kind of things they would expect you to be doing at whatever stage you are at in your program. Again, as the coronavirus became so overbearing, meeting my mentor became far less frequent but he has always been ready to offer his advice if I have needed any feedback in project work.

By being constantly given so much responsibility, it means that you are always at your absolute maximum because if you aren’t then you are not making the most of the opportunity. This has kept the placement engaging and rewarding throughout the year. Sometimes during project work it can be difficult to come up with solutions or find out exactly what you want to know but you are constantly busy because in order to find the right solution it can take repeated trial and error.

The level of responsibility that I was given from day one was massive. The expectation is set very high from the outset and so you have a few weeks store training before you begin management responsibilities. At each stage in the process I have received more and more responsibility and when the coronavirus caused panic buying it gave me an unbelievable amount of responsibility in the project work that we were given. It also shows you how much you are capable of when you are trusted to be in control of stores and projects.

In terms of my university degree I now have a real-world understanding of what it takes to be successful in business. It also shows you some of the workings of such a successful company that you would otherwise not appreciate. That real-world understanding and the work ethic that the placement operates at has given me a fantastic grounding to go back to university for my final year. Coupled with the university work that I have completed I have kept in the loop with my degree.

The office atmosphere was not a typical office atmosphere given the impact of the coronavirus. This meant that the office staff were not present largely and as placement students we were only in the main office sparingly.

The level of detail of the training plan is one of the foundations of the placement. While you must concentrate on whatever aspect of the role you are currently in your are always aware of what is next in your plan. This obviously had to be adapted as the coronavirus developed however given the circumstances that was to be expected. Overall, we were still able to stick largely to the initial plan and the process was exactly as it was set out.

The consistent feedback throughout the process and the support from all of the colleagues that I have worked with in stores and in project work has helped me develop in every aspect of the business. That understanding of all different elements of the operation has helped me hugely in my knowledge of how things work but also in being confident in discussing things with anyone in the business. The support of my mentor was also something that helped me develop.

There are opportunities to develop in the business and this has been demonstrated by a number of area managers in the past. There is the opportunity to develop for anyone who is willing to put in the work to earn it.

Socialising with colleagues isn’t something that I did at any stage during the year outside of work. However within work everybody has been friendly and I have met some great people during the year. During project work you are able to work with the other placement students which is good fun and interesting to share experiences.

I lived at home.

I didn’t experience the nightlife.

There are some fundraising days to get involved with during the year.