Aldi Industrial Placement Review

The role was very changeable and involved lots of different areas of the business. During my time shadowing/acting as an Area Manager, I would often visit 3/4 stores a day completing shop floor checks and having management discussions with the store manager. I also completed a lot of project work where I was tasked with training employees across the whole region on new initiatives that were being launched (Area Managers, Store Managers, Store Colleagues, Office Colleagues, etc.). No day was ever the same which made the role really exciting!

I have learnt so much about myself during my time with Aldi. Being passionate about quality by being able to experience such formal conversations immediately developed my professionalism more than I could have expected. I have been fortunate enough to meet many Directors from across all regions which has in turn enabled me to learn from people with a wealth of experience. You are treated as if you are an Area Manager and the opportunities were amazing through this. Prior to my placement, I would have said that I was very driven. This has definitely developed further during my time here. I am enthusiastic about all projects that I have been involved with, which has mostly been pushed by the business allowing me to take full ownership of the role and control my own impact.

The amount of responsibility that we were given was unimaginable. We were given similar levels of responsibility as an Area Manager where we would be tasked with hiring, contract signings, training, update meetings with Directors, and that is only half of it. However, you would never be given the responsibility if you had not had ample training and support was always available. There are definitely times where you feel that you have jumped in at the deep end, but you come to understand just how much the company appreciates you as it never goes unnoticed.

We met with our mentor, who was an Area Manager, and our Store Operations Director on our first day - as well as having a couple of preparation meetings prior to this. Our mentor was a position of support throughout the whole year who looked to prepare us for all of our updates with our Director. In addition to this, we formed good relationships with all Area Managers across the region who were always just on the end of the phone. All I can say is that it is really important to reach out to as many people as possible. It can feel daunting calling an Area Manager initially, but the sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to learn from their experience and you will inevitably then be able to offer help and support to them.

Our year at Aldi encompassed the pandemic so we were unfortunate with social gatherings (just as the world was). But saying this, we had some great virtual events and everyone was really inclusive. It was really important for us IPs (there were 3 in the region) to ensure that we were organising things together and staying in close contact. We really supported each other this year which helped a lot - no one else will appreciate what you are going through like they can!

I loved my placement. It truly is the definition of hard work, but it is very rewarding. You will be tasked with things that are very difficult and you may struggle to fit all requirements into a 10 hour shift at times, but it only makes you more driven. I have developed so much in this past year and look forward to seeing how it benefits me when I return to university. (I truly believe that with how much more efficient I have become this year, I will be able to fit a previous 10 hour revision session into 3!)

Yes

Engage in as much as possible because it really all is very interesting. I would also advise going above and beyond by bringing something forward to an update that may not have been tasked to you. All of these things will not only benefit you by potentially opening up new opportunities, but will also look very good to your Director. Use all of the resources that are available to you in order to widen your knowledge and understanding which may require an hour booked out of your diary a week just to think further!