Retail Placement Review

This work placement was extremely rewarding and it was very enjoyable to gain skills in many different areas. This being said it is HARD work, especially in terms of some of the shift work you will do during logistics and sales - very early mornings, later nights, weekends. This placement gives you the opportunity to work in so many different environments: warehouses, stores and offices, along with a range of different people with different skill sets

I had amazing feedback the whole way through the placement, having monthly and end of area reviews helped to show you what you brought to a team and how well you’ve grown during this time. My teams were very local about my successes and were sad to see my leave their areas which is a great feeling! You are given so much responsibility you become a very qualified member of the teams in which you work in

The support and training by management and especially your regional training consultant is probably one of the best parts of the program. The whole way through they are focused on helping you develop as a person and grow your interpersonal and work related skills, they were happy to open new opportunities to me in order for me to gain insight in areas that were specifically interesting to me and my degree Although it is hard rotating and therefore having many different managers, you will always have a training consultant who acts as a constant

It was extremely busy days that are completely none stop. It’s important to remember to take breaks and not work too late, however in my opinion those on my team respected the fact I was only a placement student and encouraged me to take these breaks, go home at a suitable time and not work too much overtime - however I have heard from others on the scheme that they did do a lot of overtime (which isn’t paid) due to short staffing, especially when working in stores

I was seen as a fully fledged member of the teams I was working in. Depending on the team I may have been seen as a manger, such as in logistics and sales. In other areas and teams I was able to run my own projects and take full leadership over certain aspects of their jobs, often doing work that has real importance but often side-noted due to the regular teams extremely busy days. There were definitely days I did some filing and work that didn’t seem as important (especially in HR) but that was by no means a large part of my placement

Lidl really helped me to gain some further insight into my degree by allowing me to take other opportunities off the usual course of the program that would aid my studies. In terms of further employment, I feel you cannot have a better placement that makes you a well rounded person, will a very large range of different skill sets and the ability to communicate with such a range of people. I would say the employability skills I gained from this placement for the future will be extremely useful. Additionally, as you do a monthly tracker (where you rate and explain how your different skills have developed) you can use this when looking at applications for other jobs

It was very busy, you are concentrating on work most of the time. There was some time for fun and jokes but for the majority of the time everyone has their head down working hard. As with any teams they all had time after work or during breaks to really enjoy themselves The offices I worked in were very nice working conditions and I always felt very comfortable there with my own desk and space

The plan and programme is amazing, however due to coronavirus ours was changed quite a bit. The programme also allows for some time meeting up with all the other national placement students which is great fun, however we did not manage to spend time in head office (an extremely attracting part of the programme) due to coronavirus. In the different areas you move into, they have individual training plans for you and use these to examine your progress

The company takes time developing a training plan to make sure you can get the most out of your time, and anything additional you’d like to learn is also added, allowing for personalisation of your training plan where appropriate. Some areas you spend a lot less time in so it can be difficult to be fully trained to a high standard however the company moves quickly and things are learnt very fast in order to keep up this pace

extremely - very well paid, I really enjoyed my time with the company and it seems it will be a lot easier to continue my career with them due to completing the placement programme. I hope to apply for these programmes and continue my progression in the business as this profession is an attracting factor of working for Lidl. It is clear there are many routes for applying as a graduate into the company and lots of progression within this company!

In each region there is only 1-2 placement students and then also a few graduates, therefore it is a small group of students, however I found many of my other colleagues to be young and had many opportunities for going out together and the company also had Christmas and summer parties for socialising. It is of course difficult to socialise with work friends when you are all working different shift patterns, but it can be done!

My region was an expensive area to live in and therefore cost of living is high, despite not even being close / central to a city. The area was also not very accessible without a car (which is needed for the placement scheme anyway) but it meant there was little opportunity for using public transport to go elsewhere on a Friday evening. I also spent a lot of money on petrol during this year placement

My office was not particularly close to the city, there were a few pubs around but I barely visited those Due to the lack of transport it was difficult to socialise after work however there are many opportunities for socialising in the close areas surrounding the offices on other days or later in the evening This placement was definitely not the most social, but very rewarding in terms of your actual work life and I still felt I was able to have a social life, just not so much within work

There are opportunities to get involved in charity work, such as fun runs and collections. There was also the opportunity to run up the shard. The placement students meet up every few months and this is very nice - we stay in a hotel, do some training which involves interactive games, have nice dinners and drinks at the bar. Meals and events are also organised outside of work for the regions placements and graduates to discuss their process