Store Apprentice Review

My role is the same per the job description of a store assistant at Aldi. This involves operating tills and duties on the shop floor including merchandising, working pallets and assisting customers. I work with store assistants and the management in the store to make sure that customers have full displays, a pleasant experience and don’t wait in long queues.

This is my first job with a large company so most of the skills I utilise are new, learned skills. Customer service and interacting with the public is something I had little experience of before I started at Aldi but I have grown with this contact and now it comes quite naturally to me and I rarely have to think about it.

I do somewhat enjoy the programme because most of my colleagues are easy to get along with, however, I mainly am there to work and enjoying it isn’t a priority at this point in time. The more I learn, the more I will enjoy it and I feel like this could grow exponentially if I was promoted to management after my apprenticeship.

I feel moderately valued by Aldi but it’s hard to tell. Sometimes I receive praise for work I’ve done well (or fast!) but this doesn’t happen nearly enough. I find I have to praise myself more than anything. But I feel good when I am praised the odd time. I would also feel more valued if I was given some more variety in my work and spend more time on the shop floor.

There is one factor that can be considered when thinking about my programme being organised, and that is meetings with my training provider. Unfortunately the rest and the vast majority of my time at work is just as if I was a store assistant in no apprenticeship at all. There is no structure of training that is specific to an apprentice, at least not that had been explained to me.

My training provider gives me adequate support in his capacity to do so. He has given me advice on work practices and real life situations and helped me clarify the position to take on them. He always makes sure I’m doing well. In this regard I can’t fault him for trying but he’s limited in what he can do.

At the corporate level, the MyAldi app is a useful tool that can offer some support and that’s how much I expect from that level from a large company. From my area manager, I receive almost no support directly and rarely see him so perhaps it’s difficult. From my direct leader and store management, I do receive some support when I need it and this is similar to store assistants, but they offer support to a lesser extent. This mayb be because I need less support from them.

What I earn meets my costs perfectly fine at this current time, although it limits my costs at the same time. I do the same work as a store assistant for a lesser wage so that is the one shortfall I can speak of. It wouldn’t be so bad if I was getting significantly extra training from Aldi but I haven’t been getting that extra.

There are many attractive opportunities outside of work which would be easy to persue if I chose to. These are varied opportunities with are interesting and provide a lot of variety in the roles.

Yes

I would recommend Aldi to a friend (and have done so) because it’s a fast-paced environment where there high expectations but once you meet them you will feel accomplished. I would also say that the team working at my store are on balance, friendly and co-operative, whilst keeping the atmosphere professional.

I would give the advice that they should only apply if they are willing to work hard on the shop floor. I would tell them that working fast on the tills is not that difficult and can be fun at times to see how fast you can go all day. But on the shop floor it will be a challenge to you so be prepared of that and face the challenge with determination.