Industrial Placement Review

Its very hard to know whether or not I enjoyed my time at Aldi. The first few months was the hardest thing I have ever done as it was a massive culture shock from learning what to wear to dealing with doors slammed in your face when asking to be trained. However the challenge is what I enjoyed and throughout my year I was put in positions I have never been in before, so even though at the time I didnt enjoy it looking back im really glad I successfully got through it.

Through out the year I have met many people and therefore had many different relationships. From the office team and fellow placement students I would rate 10/10 however I struggled to get along with one of my store managers who refused to train anyone and also clashed with a few members of the store team who maybe didnt understand the hierachy position we were in.

This has varied throughout the year. On projects I wasnt given any briefs so I just had to get on with it however I see this as a positive as I got to create my projects from the beginning and got feedback along the way. In store there wasnt much support from reluctant store managers but this was very store dependant.

There is always something to do, if there isnt then you find something to do!

From running a store to creating and implementing my own project. The level of control and responsibility you are handed cannot be compared to any other placement.

The whole year has been a huge learning curve and even though you go through a lot of negatives it sets you up for the future to avoid these negatives occuring again.

I was lucky enough to work in the office for a few weeks in 2 different departments to cover and was welcomed as one of the team straight away! Placement students spend a lot of time in the office during the last few months working on projects however this is in small rooms around the head office but the atmosphere is very professional but you get to grips with it almost immediately.

There is a set plan however no two placement years were the same amungst us. Opportunites come up in the office or on projects which anyone can get involved in, all you need to do is ask! If you arent enjoying a particular aspect of the year then say something rather than feeling sorry for yourself however part of the challenge is too work through the negative feelings so always give everything a go first.

You are in control of your development, the sooner you realise that the better! I struggled at first because I thought there would atleast be some guidence however I was wrong and fell behind because of this! The company gives you the freedom to develop and theres nothing else more rewarding than discovering it on your own but bare in mind it is difficult at the time.

You realise for yourself whether you would like to come back throughout the year so you know exactly what you would be signing up for! If you show improvement and perform well you will be invited back as it is based on the whole year not certain aspects.

We were told we would all be living in the same town so we all got to know eachother on a personal level and had lots of opportunites for nights/ meals out which we all enjoyed and got involved in. Some regions got to live at home so obviously their social life wont be as high.

Very average rent and restaurant prices,

Didnt really experience the nightlife as i would tend to go home on days off.

Its what you make of it amungst yourselves.