48 Week Placement Student Review

I loved my placement, and would like to go back to work for Lidl after graduation.

My colleagues in each department were very helpful and fun to be around, they guided me through each job and were very supportive whilst giving me opportunities to have my own responsibility. I was included on team build events and invited to the Christmas party, so i felt very included and valued.

The placement scheme has a good structure which sets out what you will learn so that the managers can follow it and make sure you are learning everything you need to be. They were all more than happy to help and were very approachable. Generally, I would be shown a task a few times then given the chance to have a go at it myself and encouraged to ask if I needed any guidance. This method worked really well for me and I feel I learned a lot.

The placement keeps you busy, but no more than you would expect it to. I enjoy having tasks to do and would not want to sit at a desk being bored so for me, the balance was perfect.

You are given lots of responsibility from the start. In store I ran shifts by myself and held store keys so that I was opening and closing the store. I also held the safe and had control over the cash procedures. In stock management I had certain lines that I would be responsible for placing orders for, which must be right so that the region does not run out of tock, or have too much and nowhere in the warehouse to put it. I also worked in Property, where I was trusted to take the pool car to a town and search for potential new sites for stores. I would then create a file for the town with all of the competition and opportunities and plan site maps to see whether the site is feasible or not. I was then able to canvass the best sites on behalf of Lidl to find out whether the owners would be interested in selling it.

I have worked in a variety of environments, from store and warehouse to the offices. The placement also takes you through the ranks so you start as a store assistant and work up to management, which I found really valuable as it makes you so much more aware as a manager. I have had chance to put a lot of the theory which i leafed at university into pactice. The people management experience I have gained has made me much more confident as a person, as has presenting to managers and other placement students. Lots of the skills which I have developed are versatile and would be useful both in my studies and further jobs even if that may not be with Lidl.

I have worked in a variety of areas with a variety of people. Naturally the environments vary, and i think that was a good thing to see. Everybody was very helpful and appreciative of the fact that i was learning and were more than happy to help me to develop my skills, but the environment is deferent depending on where you are working. In store there is a huge team atmosphere which you do not see so much in the office departments. however, the office staff were fun to talk to as well.

The placement was thoroughly planned out. We received a diary on day one of what was happening when , then we just chose our modules as we went through.

The company spent hours working with us coaching us in each department than moving on to learn something new elsewhere rather than just teaching us one job and leaving us to it for the rest of the year. they also invested in external training companies to come and spend a day with us to teach us management skills. there were also team building days and placement student events which were in place to show us support to see what we had all learned so far and keep us developing. We kept a placement diary each week and sent it back to the training department to show them how many hours we had worked and what things we had learned, so they were constantly making sure that we were being shown new things and able to progress.

Most of the students from the year before us who have no graduated, have secured jobs with Lidl. Having had exposure in so many different areas, has really opened doors for us all and I would love to come bak to work for Lidl once I have graduated. in terms of this year, during our final year at university we have all been offered the opportunity to act as an ambassador for the brand in exchange for sponsorship, and I may also work in store, depending on my university timetable.

We met up at placement student events thee times during the year. We stayed at a variety of lovely hotels and had team building and training activities and events. At our final meeting we hired the Great Hall and had a big dinner. We were all invited to our regional Christmas party, and any team builds in the departments whilst we were there.

I lived at home for the majority of my placement, so my costs were very low. The only time I really spent money was when we spent two weeks at head office in London, but our hotel and breakfast were paid for and we were given £20 a day expenses. After travel and two meals I was probably spending £10/£15 a day plus any social activities or drinks.

I was living at home in a small town, coming from a university city obviously it is much quieter, but it is what I am used to. However, when working shifts in store, I didn't really go out that much anyway. Being home did give me the opportunity to see more of my friends and family which has been great, and when we did go out we tended to travel into Birmingham for a proper night out.

There re a few events throughout the year that lidl sponsor which employees are encouraged to take part in including a triathlon and fun run. There was also an after work football session once a week for the men in my region. As perviously mentioned, I was invited to work team builds, nights out out and parties as and when they occurred, and the placement students had meetings and activities too.