Assistant Store Manager/Trainee Area Manager Review

The placement experience was fantastic. I enjoyed all of the areas of the placement, some areas catered more to my character giving me some real highlights to the year, such as my store management time. Never the less, the whole year was stimulating and the teams I worked along side made my experience extremely enjoyable.

I felt extremely valued through out the year, working within smaller teams than I initially expected it was soon clear to me that the job role I was doing was crucial to the teams I was working within. Everyone is valued and appreciated.

I was continuously supported whilst on placement. There was a fantastic structured training plan which was followed with dedicated appraisals with the regional operation director. more importantly there was daily on the job training and feedback, with on the spot feedback/guidance being more beneficial to me due to the fast nature of retail.

There is always a job to be done. During the initial store operations time the work load is intense and not for those who do not like physical labour. Aldi expect a top work rate from each employee however, with great training in efficiency and a supporting team a good candidate for this placement should thrive from this expectation. When you complete your store time and enter the 'suited' part of the placement the work load doesn't become less intense but just less physical. Each day will be different due to the dynamic environment of retail but will always remain busy and stimulating.

The level of responsibility is beyond my initial expectation. Every job I completed was a job which needed to be done and if I did not do it someone else would have had to have done it. At no point in the placement did I feel I was completing 'time filling' tasks. During the store management time of the placement I would be in charge of the store team making the daily decisions which are crucial to the running of the store. This gave me direct accountability for the decisions made which motivated me to success. I also completed various projects for the company which resulted in the regional director teams basing some of their decisions upon which affected 60+ stores.

The placement has developed me into a young professional, it has equipped me with the skills set necessary to succeed in all aspects of my life be it academic or professional. I true believe that whilst financially the placement has put me in a great position the personal development has set me up for a great future.

Everyday was full of worthy projects or jobs for me to complete. Never did I feel that anything I was tasked with was just 'to pass time'. The support I got from everyone was great, there was always someone on hand to turn to for help. There was a genuine environment of care and development.

On the first day my whole placement was presented to me as a structured development timeline which proved to be very effective. During each section of the placement further explanation, training and support was given which significantly developed me to a position that with out going through this process I may not have achieved. At the end of the placement I was asked for my feedback on the whole placement in order to provide continuous development of the placement on offer, highlighting to me that Aldi see the placement process as an important area of their business.

The training I received was second to none. I was exposed to every area of the business and interacted with every level of the business gaining a complete understanding of the whole operation Apart from having a well structured training schedule the resources available to me were fantastic and the ability to always be able to talk to someone to learn from real experiences truly made the difference.

After a great year with the company and receiving some fantastic feedback after the effort I had put in was recognised, I am still currently working alongside the company to help promote the placement for future students. I still have great relations with the people I worked alongside. During my exit meeting from the placement I was prompted to enjoy my summer and take time to reflect upon the opportunity on offer but that there was a direct interview on offer with the MD for the graduate position and that I should apply for the role.

I worked alongside 3 other placement students. We all enjoyed a working with each other, using our own experiences to help each other through the process. We often had project work where we would have to work as a group, whilst we did have a fun time we always maintained a level of professionalism in our actions.

During my placement I moved back to my parental home due to the fact the placement was based in my home area but also with the great annual pay for the placement I thought it would be a good opportunity to save some money for the summer and my final year at uni.

Where I worked was my home town so I knew the nightlife very well. During the first half of the placement where the working hours are retail hours meaning a lot of weekend work I decided to put work first and often spent my days of seeing family and friends. However, during the second half of my placement my working week for the majority was office based hours with weekends off. One the whole its a great balance.

During the placement you meet a lot of different people and build some great friendships so this will always generate the opportunity to socialise, however, I took the stance to keep a professional relationship with the people I worked alongside so avoided out of work activities.