Industrial Placement Program Review

The year has been very enjoyable and rewarding. The responsibility you are given from very early on is fantastic. The year is split into two parts. First you spend around six months in a store, by twelve weeks in you are running the store. The training for this is very fast paced but you are not dumped in and left struggling, all training had to be covered before you could run the store and there is always someone to contact if you were ever stuck. The experience in store leading a team and being responsible for all decisions is both one of pressure and great enjoyment; it gives you great pride in your work. The second half is at head office where you are able to experience each department. This gives you a great opportunity to enhance your knowledge of the business. In most departments you are given your own project; these projects are business critical, if good enough they will be used by Aldi. There is also a chance to shadow Area Managers, you really see every part of the company and gain great knowledge into how a successful multinational company works.

Everyone has been so friendly; it really is true that Aldi have the friendliest people in retail. Everyone has the time to help you if you are stuck, and feedback, both positive and negative, is constant throughout helping your development as a manager. In store time you become a valued member of the management team. At head office, especially in project work, the work you do can be used and is very much appreciated.

Each placement student is given a designated Area Manager (AM) who is effectively their mentor for the year, although any AM would be willing to help if asked. In stores the store manager and assistant manager did all of my training. The support they gave was brilliant, any questions i had they were happy to answer and they put the right amount of pressure on me to push me to achieve tasks, such as running the store on my own, a lot quicker than i ever could have imagined.

The placement is very fast paced especially in stores. Some days you were so busy time just flew in, this helped develop my organisational skills, you had to know your game plan for the day or risk letting the day run away from you. There was always something to do in store and every department at head office know that we were coming so had plan for exactly what we were doing. We were never left sitting bored not knowing what to do.

The opportunities you get in this placement are outstanding. As mentioned, within three months I was running a store, in charge of all decision making on certain days, placing orders, holding the safe, helping the Area Managers in different tasks and many other duties. How many other 19 year olds can say that? Anything wrong in store or any issues were my responsibility to notice and fix. At head office I was helping out in loads of different projects, and was also in charge of a few myself. The projects were not just busy work, they were business critical and if good enough would be used. Knowing a project I worked on was shipped out across the region was an amazing feeling.

Before this placement I had very little management experience, now I have run a store as an assistant manager, making numerous decisions when running the store. This has helped develop my organisational skills, communication skills with staff and customers have improved, and my general customer service skills have certainly been developed further. My decision making skills have improved, also a lot of decisions had to be made very quickly so I certainly can think a lot quicker on my feet. Through having a successful time in management of the store my confidence has certainly risen. Also whilst out with the Area Manager I was able to experience interviews from the other side, which was really enjoyable and interesting. I was also lucky enough to develop my presentation and excel skills whilst up at head office.

Again everyone was very friendly. The atmosphere was very enjoyable.

At the start we were all given a plan for our placement which detailed where we would be and when and as we entered each department at head office there was a set plan for what we would be doing. The placement would benefit from having more structure during the store time, possibly having target a time or date to be trained in a certain area. Overall the placement is very well organised.

I had a number of sit down meetings with my store manager, area manager and the Store Ops Director. Each was interested in my development in the program and were interested in my opinions. Half way through the year my Area Manager mentor was promoted to Trading Director in Germany, before she left she gave me her email to update her with how i was getting on and to keep in contact. I still have the occasional catch up with my old store manager who is interested how I am getting on at head office.

Have experienced the company for a year I would love to come back as an Area Manager. Each placement student needs to reapply to work for the Aldi Graduate Program when they graduate, however the training plan for the Area Manager program for previous placement students are shorter than that of other graduates who are successful.

I had lunch everyday with all the other placement students on the scheme and we constantly compared our situations with each other. It was good to see that comparison with other people in the same situation.

Very affordable, especially with the higher wage compared to other placements.

In all honesty I don't know, i never really went out, there were some good take aways and a few pubs but apart from the Christmas night out i never experienced them.

Yeah there was still the chance for a social life. In store time you got your shifts four weeks in advance so could plan your life around them, plus if you needed a certain day off then the Store Manager was very flexible. At head office working days are fixed to Monday to Friday, so having the weekend off was a good chance to watch/play football and meet other uni friends.