Industrial Placement Review

For the first half of the placement I was working in store - this meant ordering and maintaining stock, dealing with personnel issues, and doing anything necessary to maintain smooth running of the store. For the second half I was working on projects which involved collecting raw data, lots of quantitative and qualitative analysis and pitching my findings to my superiors with suggestions I had come to from my research.

My interpersonal skills are definitely the most improved as a result of this placement - you become comfortable talking to people very quickly because you have to interact with a diverse group of individuals. By the end of my time here, I was capable to presenting to large groups of people with very little nerves and had become more comfortable in my social abilities.

The responsibility given here is huge. You start out with store assistant duties but are able to build up to management tasks very quickly. You are treated as a respected member of the team from start to finish, which was very refreshing and one of my favourite parts of the role.

Aldi assign you a mentor as well as an area manager which is great because you always have somebody to speak to on a personal level when things get difficult. I also kept in touch with the other IP's who were working in different stores to me which is something I would definitely recommend to anybody else taking this role.

I felt fully supported by Aldi the full way through my placement. There can be days when things get difficult, but you are taught the importance of resilience from the very start and I always felt there was somebody I could speak to if I ever had a bad day in store.

I have loved my time on placement and would definitely recommend it to anybody wanting to challenge themselves. There is a lot more room for responsibility and development than in other placement roles I have been told about, which is something that I have really enjoyed.

Yes

Aldi provide you a lot in terms of personal and career development, but they do expect a lot back from you - the working hours can be long and there have been weeks that can be very difficult, so I would definitely recommend this role to somebody with a good work ethic and a genuine motivation for development. Its not an easy 12 months for somebody who is just looking for a break from uni.