Retail Management Placement Review

The role generally provides an insight into the Area Manager role and what this consists of. Common tasks that would crop up include cascading relevant information to the store teams, people management, recruitment for an area of stores and the management of smaller projects. Day to day the job varies heavily and this is dependent on the time of year and if anything ad hoc comes up.

There has been a huge development of my personal skills in particular, notably leadership, communication and problem solving. All personal skills are developed throughout the store time with the requirement to uphold management tasks and responsibilities this requires all the mentioned skills to develop. My experience in the use of Excel and Powerpoint has also developed hugely with these platforms required in the role, alongside my presenting skills.

The responsibility provided on the placement at Aldi is second to none and I honestly do not believe you will find a placement where more responsibility is given. From my 3rd day on the job I was involved with interviewing potential candidates for store roles, whilst both in store and out of store there is the responsibility to uphold the expected level of maturity and professionalism of an Area Manager.

Throughout the placement i had a dedicated mentor who would check in on me every week to see how i was performing. In addition to this, throughout my store training all my store teams were incredibly useful and willing to assist where possible, knowing my limited experience in the role / industry. There was also regular catch-ups with my director to gain more in depth feedback and ensure i kept caught up with them.

The general atmosphere across both the stores and head office was very pleasant. Whilst these varied due to the different nature of the roles, both provided a hardworking and positive atmosphere at work. There was social events occurring outside of work regularly which also provided a good sense of togetherness.

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement with Aldi. Whilst it requires individual who are hard working and resilient, with the need to be flexible at times, the rewards and benefits I've gained from the placement hugely outweigh the sacrifices made. The level of personal development has been huge and the level of skills I've developed and experiences I've been exposed to has been hugely beneficial.

Yes

Aldi is a great company to work for and the placement is hugely beneficial for personal development and future career prospects. Whilst the need to be hardworking and resilient is very apparent, if you can demonstrate this along with good initiative and social skills, it will be a hugely beneficial year.