store apprentice Review

My role as a store apprentice is to maintain a high standard of customer service, this can either be achieved by helping customers to find items or by ensuring their last impression of aldi is a good one by giving them an amazing experience when i am serving customers on till. Other duties include stacking shelves with items from the 2 daily deliveries, making sure that throughout the day that there is no items missing from the shelves, and that nothing is a health and safety hazard for either staff or customers. E.g. blocking fire exists or having delivery pallets blocking walkways.

I have learnt how to work more efficiently and manage my time better especially when working mornings, as a lot of fresh produce has to be packed onto the shelves in the limited time you have before the store opens. I have also learnt better communication and customer service skills, although i worked in a butchers before I joined Aldi it was not on such a big scale, now I can serve 200 customers a day and have a conversation with every single one without feeling shy or timid about talking to new people.

I'm 50/50 on the program, although I have learnt a lot being only 17 when i joined the company i ran into quite a few problems. i'm not the tallest of girls at 5'4 when it came to putting some items on the shelf i had to get some help as i couldn't reach, as everyone is busy they ended up putting me on till. This seemed like a good idea until I had to serve alcohol which I needed manager approval for every time, which probably caused more of a problem as if i had a long line of customers they would get frustrated with having to wait for a manager. Once a month i have a visit from my tutor in which i have to sit in a meeting room a go through booklets i have filled out and answer some general knowledge questions. the time i have with my tutor is taken out of my shift for that day which infuriated managers if it was a busy day. it is easier now i am 18 but i still remember the bad experiences i have had with certain managers which although they may forget i haven't. i still have meetings with my tutor until august 2018 and so far they aren't improving in terms of being called half way through my meeting to come back on shopfloor because it is busy.

if i'm honest i don't really feel valued in my own store. I have worked in other stores and enjoy it very much and feel a lot more valued. As a young person with not a very good first experience of aldi, i feel that i need more reassurance of my value. this may be because i have now been in the company for a year and i'm just another member of staff. i have got a temporary store manager at the moment and feel a lot more reassured by them that i am doing a good job. i enjoy the job that i do but try to keep more to myself because of my experiences.

My program started off very unstructured as the tutor that i was given was about to leave the company. Anything that i told her went straight to my Area Manger, even if it wasn't a big issue but i just wanted to get it off my chest and talk to somebody she would tell one of my superiors. I was assigned a new tutor after the other one left and she is a lot easier to talk to and understands that i don't want anything going further with our conversations but she gives me advice and the professional way to go about dealing with the problem and any numbers to call to deal with any emotional issues with work. other than that i am given a good very easy to follow scheduled with when each piece of work should be completed and if i am on track or not with the speed that i am completing the work.

As i expressed in question five I now receive a lot more support from this trainer than my previous one. any help that i need in terms of completing my work that is issued by my trainer is very easier to get and if my trainer isn't available then she will always find time later in the day to call me back or text me to resolve the issue. if i need any emotional help with work, she is more than happy to sit down and just listen, she never speaks to anyone about what i tell her and she will always give me numbers and associations contact details for if i ever did want to take anything further.

My current temporary store manager give me any support that i need. He answers any question that i have and if he doesn't know the answer then he will try his best to find it out. In terms of my shift i don't get very much support. i currently work 3 jobs so i'm unable to do friday and saturday evenings and sundays are a struggle when you haven't slept all weekend, however i only sometimes only get these times off and its a struggle to try and find someone who will do the shifts. although i have told them i cannot work those times i get told its up to me to find someone to replace me on those shifts. i understand that i am asking for a lot but i will happily work any other time.

as i am only 18 and was 17 when i started working for aldi which meant i couldn't work between 10pm and 6am, i have only just started driving lessons so my only mode of transport is my boyfriend who works at another Aldi store or a bus or train. so when i am shifted to start at 4am or 5am i have to get cab as it is an hour to walk, although this is okay on a one time basis a week when i am doing 5 shifts a week starting at 5am and it costs me £8 to get a cab and i'm on £6 an hour it does make me wonder weather i should switch companies where they don't start so early as i am unable to now start at 7 or 8am as there is no shift that starts at that time.

if you work mornings you have a lot o opportunities to do other things outside of work as the shops are still open. however, if you are doing evening (2pm - 10:30pm) you get out when most of the shops are closed and usually sleep until you need to get up for work so you don't really have a life outside of work. in other stores in aldi they do some work parties and days out/ evening out together e.g. meals or bowling. my store don't tend to do so many as most of us don't drive. both myself and my partner work mornings most of the time and our other jobs are in the evening on weekends so it works out for us with being able to go out after work and still eat together and go bowling or shopping before sleeping and going back to work in the morning.

Yes

It pays well and treats its staff well with Aldi Perks and pensions. the general idea is that you work hard and you get treated well. if you aren't up to aldi's standards then look forward to review conversations about your work effort and timings. if you are working a pallet and you aren't pushing the products out or not being bothered to work it properly you will be caught out for it. it isn't an easy job but seeing your pay check at the end of the month is definitely a big motivation. that may be bad to say but we don't work for nothing.

Make sure you try and do a longer work trail that 2 hours, i defiantly did not get the full aldi experience in those 2 hours and looking back i'm not sure if i would have continued my application for aldi. you are expected to do a lot in a short space of time. the training time is minimal and unless your colleagues are really interested in their job any questions that you ask they aren't too fussed on answering. You may have worked in a fast-paced working environment but you don't know anything until you have done a 10hr morning shift starting at 4am. defiantly recommend going to the gym intensively before joining this company because it makes you sweat like mad, and when you do a morning shift for the first time wear a spare top from home and then change into your uniform before the store opens.