Purchasing assistant Review

My role throughout my program with Aldi involved working in the purchasing department. More specifically, it involved working for the fashion area - buying for Aldi's own fashion products. I was responsible help make decisions with regards to seasonal fashion and I was also mostly involved in communicating and placing orders with a number of different suppliers. Sometimes the work can be a little boring and tedious however for the most part I enjoy it a lot. I can definitely see myself working in a similar role in the years to come.

I learnt various new skills including organising, planning and prioritising work, developing specific goals and plans to prioritise, organise and accomplish work, performing administrative activities, performing day to day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork, determining if inventory quantities are sufficient for needs, ordering more materials when necessary, responding to customer and supplier inquiries about order status, changes or cancellations.

I enjoyed this programme as it was very interesting and I learnt a lot of new skills including. It was such an excellent opportunity to participate in this program and discover my strengths and weaknesses in this role. From this program, I could then begin to build my confidence and experience in the role. In addition to this, it was a great insight into the team at Aldi - I got to meet most of the staff department members and find out about progression and opportunities in the company.

I felt very valued by Aldi - the management team are great leaders who show an interest in their people's jobs and career aspirations. They look into the future to establish learning and development opportunities for the team members. Everyone was usually happy give valuable advise, especially if someone was struggling. Despite the shop was being frequently busy, staff members were able to allocate some time to assist and help me with my role so that I felt more comfortable and knowledgeable.

The program was very well organised and structured, and it was great being given the opportunities to discover my talents and strengths as I got to move around the shop on a regular basis. I regularly received important support from the supervising person from my team who was looking after my performance. There was a clear picture regarding which skills I would be working on during each shift and I was really focusing on it.

The amounts of support was significant, and the goals and tasks were explained properly to me and other team members, and I was also trained on how to perform specific jobs that needed specific training. If I had any queries, questions or problems I was always able to express my concerns to my supervisor and they would then provide me with help right away. Overall, I received a significant amount of support from my training provider.

I received a massive amount of support from my employer. More specifically, I was given a wide range of benefits whilst working in the sore which was really great; I was additionally given frequent feedback on my performance from the store management team. The overall program was really fabulous and I highly recommend it to everyone as it will help you develop a number of transferable skills and discover your strengths and weaknesses.

The package, unfortunately, allowed me to just about survive after paying rent in the large city, especially after paying rent and maintenance fees. I very rarely allowed myself to go out for a dinner/lunch, buy fashionable clothes and participate in luxurious activities such as holidays weekend gateways. I think it was quite unfair as my salary was so much lower than my friends' who were participating in other apprenticeship programmes.

We had a brilliant team, which was one of the greatest aspect of the program, and we frequently organised a number of various interesting activities outside of the workplace such as networking events, meetings and picnics in the park and the suburbs. We were also volunteering with our team for a short period of time in order to organise several interesting activities in our local community.

Yes

This role will allow you to build strong working relationships with suppliers and colleagues alike. Communication skills, attention to detail and strong commercial awareness will be greatly developed if you participate in this program, and these skills are essential to be successful in similar roles. I would recommend this programme to anyone who would like to gain experience in dealing with suppliers sourcing quotes for services, maintaining fixed price agreements, managing key business processes, resolving supplier invoice queries and actioning intercompany transactions.

This is a great program that will get your foot in the door with an excellent company that will offer brilliant training and genuine career progression. In order to prepare well for the interview, think about examples from your university and previous work experience where you used your communication, collaboration, teamwork, partnering, multitasking, professionalism and customer service skills.