ALDI Graduate Area Manager... Am I mad?

fasttalkerchat

Shooter_galway wrote: »

Worked for Smyths for 3 years absolute shambles worked over 90 hours a week for nov and dec area managers are complete numpties have no people skills at all and pay is peanuts strongly advise people not to go there as degrees will be wasted like mine was two years later after leaving I'm only getting back to what I wanted to do in business

What sort of money are they on if you don't mind me asking?

Shooter_galway

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

What sort of money are they on if you don't mind me asking?

25-27k inc bonus which u will never see

fasttalkerchat

Shooter_galway wrote: »

25-27k inc bonus which u will never see

**** one. I don't mind doing the hours (not as much as 90) but only for a year or 2, for great money and pushing for promotion.
25k is just ripping the piss. I'm guessing Store managers are burned out by 30?

Shooter_galway

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

**** one. I don't mind doing the hours (not as much as 90) but only for a year or 2, for great money and pushing for promotion.
25k is just ripping the piss. I'm guessing Store managers are burned out by 30?

Have u applied for Smyths?! Depends which region u are in, promotions don't happen a lot unless u seriously brown nose the area managers store managers roughly 34k plus some are on over 60k but been there donkeys years

fasttalkerchat

Shooter_galway wrote: »

Have u applied for Smyths?! Depends which region u are in, promotions don't happen a lot unless u seriously brown nose the area managers store managers roughly 34k plus some are on over 60k but been there donkeys years

I was with LIDL. At university now and thinking about their graduate programme when I finish. Its good to hear because its hard to know which companies are genuine. I'm not afraid of hard work or long hours, as long as its leading somewhere.

Shooter_galway

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I was with LIDL. At university now and thinking about their graduate programme when I finish. Its good to hear because its hard to know which companies are genuine. I'm not afraid of hard work or long hours, as long as its leading somewhere.

Well a job is a job! I used to be with Dunnes and there are renowned for badly treating managers but I'd choose Dunnes over Smyths! Smyths have a graduate program?!

fasttalkerchat

Shooter_galway wrote: »

Well a job is a job! I used to be with Dunnes and there are renowned for badly treating managers but I'd choose Dunnes over Smyths! Smyths have a graduate program?!

Sorry, I meant the LIDL graduate programme. I keep an eye on positions at a fair few companies to see what my options are. I'm going into final year in september.

spankmemunkey

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Do you have a relevent 2.1 degree? If you had a years experience in the company or elsewhere as a store manager you would be a strong candidate.

No it wasnt for me, I was just highlighting my relation to knowing what Aldi and Lidl's reputation is like in Germany as i lived there. My partner was the one that applied but to no avail. My Partner has a degree but not in relation to retail and no experience in retail, the job wasnt in the shop more in the office side of things, in purchasing, language was a requirement and my partner has 4 fluent languages, and i dont mean a little bit of this and a little bit of that, i mean 4 languages spoken and written and experience in management.

fasttalkerchat

spankmemunkey wrote: »

No it wasnt for me, I was just highlighting my relation to knowing what Aldi and Lidl's reputation is like in Germany as i lived there. My partner was the one that applied but to no avail. My Partner has a degree but not in relation to retail and no experience in retail, the job wasnt in the shop more in the office side of things, in purchasing, language was a requirement and my partner has 4 fluent languages, and i dont mean a little bit of this and a little bit of that, i mean 4 languages spoken and written and experience in management.

A degree and speaking German and English would meet some requirements but it would have to come with a few years experience. I assume you are aware of the salary that comes with that job?

spankmemunkey

Im not sure what the salary was? My partner has experience in management but not in retail, and speaks Fluent French German Spanish and English, and applied for a purchaser job in head office and Fluent German was one of the requirements along with another language the job application and cover letter was done in german.

nimbus

I have an interview with Aldi tomorrow morning any advice or leads on questions asked ?

Oasis44

nimbus wrote: »

I have an interview with Aldi tomorrow morning any advice or leads on questions asked ?

Yeah don't go and reading this thread should make it clear why. LIDL and ALDI are the Nazi party in disguise.

Procrastastudy

Expect to do the work of two people and be paid accordingly. LIDL and ALDI expect you to live the role - just be ware of that. 80 hour weeks are not uncommon.

kevohmsford

I had a set of interviews with Lidl recently and it was the worst experience I have ever had really.
The guys that interviewed me were a disgrace. I pity people that actually have to work for them.
I was sitting interviews for various jobs and thought I might as well go to the interview with Lidl. I was going to send in a letter to HR to complain but decided against it.
I am sure there a lot of good people working working for Aldi and Lidl but at least I know to avoid them in the future.

Remmy

kevohmsford wrote: »

I had a set of interviews with Lidl recently and it was the worst experience I have ever had really.
The guys that interviewed me were a disgrace. I pity people that actually have to work for them.
I was sitting interviews for various jobs and thought I might as well go to the interview with Lidl. I was going to send in a letter to HR to complain but decided against it.
I am sure there a lot of good people working working for Aldi and Lidl but at least I know to avoid them in the future.

I sent in an application to Lidl this year. I doubt I will get called for interview as I have virtually no retail experience but incase I do what are the interviews like?I remember being impressed by the spiel that the district manager gave when I was talking to him about the job in the gradireland fair.

spankmemunkey

Remmy wrote: »

I sent in an application to Lidl this year. I doubt I will get called for interview as I have virtually no retail experience but incase I do what are the interviews like?I remember being impressed by the spiel that the district manager gave when I was talking to him about the job in the gradireland fair.

I see you used German in the above comments, thats a start! lol

fasttalkerchat

"Everything you have heard is true"

Caledonman

nimbus wrote: »

I have an interview with Aldi tomorrow morning any advice or leads on questions asked ?

As an ex Area Manager for a number of years, the rants on here about Aldi being the worst place in the world to work are total rubbish.. The negative comments are generally coming from failed area mnagers, that went in with their eyes closed, saw a nice salary and car and thought it would be easy. Its not. You work hard, long hours at the beginning, but when I finished (for a bigger role) I was typically working 40 to 50 hours per week, earning over 80K. it is mentally and physically demanding, very structured, but the training you will get is invaluable for other roles you may go to. This is not a company for everyone, you do things Aldi's way, not your own.

They are looking for confident, hard working grafters, so if you are going for a group interview, make your points, don't shout over everyone else, you will have those there doing that, listen to others and try to include those attending that are quiet... bring them into the conversation. Make your opinions and points, but make sure they are valid ones, and finally, good luck.

nimbus

Thanks for that it was a preliminary interview with their HR Adviser so he has put my CV forward for selection so fingers crossed.

AnonAldi

I have been a member here for some time now and enjoy browsing the site regularily, however, this account is a temporary one I have just opened to protect my identity, I still work for Aldi and I know for a fact that the boards are trawled by head office for possible disgruntled employes, "Ve haff vays off spying on you"

Anyway, fun and games aside, the rumours are for the most part true; it's a nightmare. In Aldi's defence, I must say that I never work more than 50 hours a week, the 80 hours a week shift stories are false. We do however, as store management, have to condense the work of two shifts, or two people, into one working day, more often or not a 12 hour day. In those 12 hours, there is supposedly a 60 minute break, but its given as 30 minutes paid and 30 minutes unpaid. Basically the 30 minutes paid are yours, (though i have never been able to take a full 30 minutes) included in your shift, you can, in theory, take the 30 minutes unpaid aswell and owe that time back to the company, ( your 12 hour shift would be counted as 11.5 hours on the rota). Thats the theory anyway.

The reality of the breaks is that I could work a 12 hour shift, not even have time to stop for a cup of tea, 12 hours running around the store, dealing with the physical side, paperwork, clients, the area managers who ring and call in constantly when you are at your busiest, even if i did have 10 or fifteen minutes to eat a sandwich, its not a break, theres no one there to cover you, and you could get called to the shop floor two or three times during said break.

Im off today, great right? not really, im sitting here at 08.20 in the morning, have been since 6.30, I spent most of last night dreaming of Adli, impending and past problems and issues, woke up as a result and couldn't get back to sleep. Thats the story most nights, I sleep on average 5 hours a night, we have to look after alarm calls for the store aswell, there are nights that my phone rings at 3 o clock in the morning and i have go in to reset the alarm, on nights like that i dont get back to sleep and more often or not, im on at 7.30 in the morning for a 12 hour shift and having slept 3 hours.

The money side of things; as management we handle thousands of euros daily, at the end of the day if and money is missing from the safe through normal human error, we have to replace it out of our own pockets, does a chef have to replace an egg if it falls to the floor? does a carpenter have to replace a piece of wood if he cuts it wrong? At Aldi, we work with money, it has to be perfect at the end of the day and if not its our full responsibility.

The benefits; The Audi A4 stories are true, you do get a company car, if you are an area manager, but its no compensation, it would be akin to telling someone that you would give them a tenner if they let you beat the living daylights out of them. Area managers basically have no life, weekdays, weekends and holidays are dedicated to their allocated stores. speaking of holidays, the 2 days that the store closes at christmas are not 2 days extra off, they are used as our 2 days off for that week. as management, we dont get paid overtime, we dont get paid by the hour/day, so we are basically "easy targets" for doing the long hour shifts, if a manager is working the shift, another store manager or the assistant manager is basically worked as a store assistant for the day and i have seen store assistants being sent home to save paying overtime and an assistant manager being used to fill the gap. management are paid the same whether they work 30 hours a week or 60. store assistants are paid by the hour. I have had weeks where I have had 3 days off, yes, but the hours are made up making you work 12 and 13 hours on the days that you go in.

There are hundreds more things that i could write about, little injustices that all add on to the nightmare, but in doing so, I would be leaving myself open to having my identity discovered. I am actively looking for something else, anything else even jobs where i would be paid half of what im earning now. the pressure just isn't worth the money. Dont get me wrong, I am no stranger to working long hours, I am no stranger to hard work, but the mix of the long hours, the constant pressure, the penny-pinching attitude, and the physical and mental torture, it can only be described as torture, are taking their toll, I have lost a stone weight since i started, I have bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, and I am constantly jumpy and irritable. Is any job worth that?
Had i known when i applied for the interview what the future held, I would honestly have steered clear of Aldi.
Maybe there are people who can stand the pressure, maybe its just me, whatever the reason, I honestly feel that if i dont get out soon, I will suffer from either a nervous breakdown or a heart attack.

My reason for writing this is not to hurt or knock Aldi, it is to inform as well as i can about their working conditions and attitude towards their staff. In this day and age, with the recession, how many other companies do you see advertising jobs on their wekly bulletin? Some might say its due to growth of the company, I know, from an insiders point of view, that its because very few people manage to stick it out for longer than a few months.

Procrastastudy

To be fair in many jobs you'd be working 50 - 60 hours a week for the money Aldi pay.

That said having worked in retail I know it's not the hours - its what your expected to do outside of your working hours (alarm calls, put your trust in someone running the place on your days off) which takes it toll.

You're expected to run the business as your own - but with many people constantly interfering. That very quickly takes it toll and makes the salary less attractive.

That said not many jobs someone with very few qualification can earn €45,000 a year fr a 50 hour week.

fasttalkerchat

Procrastastudy wrote: »

To be fair in many jobs you'd be working 50 - 60 hours a week for the money Aldi pay.

That said having worked in retail I know it's not the hours - its what your expected to do outside of your working hours (alarm calls, put your trust in someone running the place on your days off) which takes it toll.

You're expected to run the business as your own - but with many people constantly interfering. That very quickly takes it toll and makes the salary less attractive.

That said not many jobs someone with very few qualification can earn €45,000 a year fr a 50 hour week.

Stop kidding yourself. What you say here will help someone decide whether or not to join. Do you really want someone else to fallito the trap?

Procrastastudy

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Stop kidding yourself. What you say here will help someone decide whether or not to join. Do you really want someone else to fallito the trap?

What trap? I worked under very similar conditions - the fact of the matter is out side of a select few department stores most retail is like this. Aldi / Lidl just happen to pay slightly better but that's because it grocery and working in grocery has always sucked. Unless you worked for M&S of course, but that's largely down to a well established union.

I'm not sure I'm kidding myself given 15 years experience and the fact I've been quite vocal about my own personal situation.

AnonAldi

Its not really working in retail or grocery or anything like that, its the fact that your'e supposed to eat drink and sleep the company. the other day in super value I saw two lads leisurely pushing a trolley loaded with washing liquid and started stacking it on the shelf while chatting away, In aldi everyone has to do each task alone, and we have times laid out to do each specific task, downstack three full pallets; 60 minutes, pull out a full pallet, and remove the old one, 5 minutes etc, too much watching and timing everything, if im on till 6 in the evening and something happens at 11 in the morning, I know that i will be late locking the store later on. Everything is too tight, too controlled.

Yeah, the money is great, almost three grand a month, my last three months wages are still sitting almost complete in the bank given that I dont have the time nor the energy to spend it.

fasttalkerchat

The money is great until you take into account that you are unlikely to be there in 5 years. After LIDL/ALDI what do you do next? The chances are that you will use up any savings within a few years of leaving the company.
Plus, your CV is useless because everyone knows you're burned-out and expects you can't think for yourself.

Procrastastudy

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

The money is great until you take into account that you are unlikely to be there in 5 years. After LIDL/ALDI what do you do next? The chances are that you will use up any savings within a few years of leaving the company.
Plus, your CV is useless because everyone knows you're burned-out and expects you can't think for yourself.

Absolute rubbish. Do a good interview for any other grocery chain and they'd snap you up. The option would be there for any-other type of retail dependant on experience. Do you have anything to back up your claims?

The money is fairly average in retail grocery - it's just easier to get in to Lidl/Aldi as they are they work you harder than most.

stop animal cruelty

anyone here worked for ALDI as a shop assitant? is it kind of a lonely job? Whenever lm in there, no one talks to eachother & no music in the background or anything :S

spankmemunkey

stop animal cruelty wrote: »

anyone here worked for ALDI as a shop assitant? is it kind of a lonely job? Whenever lm in there, no one talks to eachother & no music in the background or anything :S

I dont really get this comment, Your working on a till, if your not on the till your packing shelves, the shop doesnt have music at all, your kept busy cos they expect you to work hard, thats their philosophy! they pay you aboive minimum but your work for it, You wouldnt be in a position to talk to each other, maybe on your breaks but when your on the till your busy, when your on the shelf stacking your busy, so when would you get to stand around talking, they utilise their staff so they are getting the most out of you!

Caledonman

stop animal cruelty wrote: »

anyone here worked for ALDI as a shop assitant? is it kind of a lonely job? Whenever lm in there, no one talks to eachother & no music in the background or anything :S

What are you looking for?? you get paid well, you will work damn hard, not a place to go if you are looking for the craic, it's a place that you can progress to earning 70k as a Store manager, but you will work. The staff don't have time to talk to each other or even to customers. It's different to a supervalu or Centra. If you are not a hard worker, or a grafter by nature, you won't last too long.
Bottom line is it depends on the effort you put in.. A good place, but not for everyone..
I am an ex Area Manager - was there for a long time

yosser hughes

Caledonman wrote: »

What are you looking for?? you get paid well, you will work damn hard, not a place to go if you are looking for the craic, it's a place that you can progress to earning 70k as a Store manager, but you will work. The staff don't have time to talk to each other or even to customers. It's different to a supervalu or Centra. If you are not a hard worker, or a grafter by nature, you won't last too long.
Bottom line is it depends on the effort you put in.. A good place, but not for everyone..
I am an ex Area Manager - was there for a long time

I agree with that, it's not a social club. In fact NOT having that annoying piped musak is a plus. If you ever worked in a supermarket you would know how annoying that music can be:) especially at Christmas.
How many hours a week did you work when you were there Caledonman?