ALDI Graduate Area Manager... Am I mad?

ALBUR182

Just a little input into this dying thread, I've worked as assistant manager in Aldi for a few years now, before that I worked in Dunnes as manager, which I hated.
Aldi has always been very good to me, true there is a sense of small minded people ruining the eperience for others (i've had some sh!t area managers to work for but in general i just felt sorry for them), i have always found aldi to be fair and with a 45 hour week, if i worked even 1 hour over that in a week, then i would get that hour back ( in fact i owe the company about 100 hours from taking relaxing, shorter weeks and i've not been pressurised to work the hours back).
i should soon have my own store also, it takes a while to work your way up to the standard required of you, but the respect does come too as standard with 95% of the area managers.
Onto Area managers, my cureent area manager is a gentleman, and the area manager before him was firm but fair IMO, my AM finds the time to be with his family, works with a smile on his face, gives you the benefit of the doubt more often than not, and generally doesnt feel too much pressure from the bosses (its all about work ethic, but he works about 40 hours per week due to his organisation of his 4 stores)

The last thing i'll say is yes the work can be demanding in Aldi, without doubt, but the money is fine from head office down to store assistants( i take home close to €3000 PM) so no, i would not put anyone off joining Aldi

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T WORK FOR LIDL, I'M WARNING YOU!!!

Magenta

ALBUR182 wrote: »

Just a little input into this dying thread, I've worked as assistant manager in Aldi for a few years now, before that I worked in Dunnes as manager, which I hated.
Aldi has always been very good to me, true there is a sense of small minded people ruining the eperience for others (i've had some sh!t area managers to work for but in general i just felt sorry for them), i have always found aldi to be fair and with a 45 hour week, if i worked even 1 hour over that in a week, then i would get that hour back ( in fact i owe the company about 100 hours from taking relaxing, shorter weeks and i've not been pressurised to work the hours back).
i should soon have my own store also, it takes a while to work your way up to the standard required of you, but the respect does come too as standard with 95% of the area managers.
Onto Area managers, my cureent area manager is a gentleman, and the area manager before him was firm but fair IMO, my AM finds the time to be with his family, works with a smile on his face, gives you the benefit of the doubt more often than not, and generally doesnt feel too much pressure from the bosses (its all about work ethic, but he works about 40 hours per week due to his organisation of his 4 stores)

The last thing i'll say is yes the work can be demanding in Aldi, without doubt, but the money is fine from head office down to store assistants( i take home close to €3000 PM) so no, i would not put anyone off joining Aldi

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T WORK FOR LIDL, I'M WARNING YOU!!!

Ah come on. Your third post and you're the only one saying anything nice about the work conditions at Aldi.

ALBUR182

I can't see what it matters how many posts i've had. If you want to be like that, check how many people directly slag aldi in the post, not many at all. it all seems to be directed at lidl as far as i can see. aldi is a much better company to work for, i've had no complaints in nearly 3 years working for them.

But i don't give a **** what people think of my post, this is a forum and i'm allowed to be as opinionated as anyone else.

And what does it matter to you anyway? Just a bitter person by nature?

Magenta

ALBUR182 wrote: »

I can't see what it matters how many posts i've had. If you want to be like that, check how many people directly slag aldi in the post, not many at all. it all seems to be directed at lidl as far as i can see. aldi is a much better company to work for, i've had no complaints in nearly 3 years working for them.

But i don't give a **** what people think of my post, this is a forum and i'm allowed to be as opinionated as anyone else.

And what does it matter to you anyway? Just a bitter person by nature?

Not bitter, no, I can't say I've ever aspired to working in a supermarket for the rest of my life.

GoneShootin

Albur & Magenta - quit yer bitching.

Albur - the right to an opinion is not something that gives you free reign to say whatever you like on boards.ie as it is a privately owned website & company. I'm not saying you've said anything untoward here, but just keep my comment in mind.

Magenta - " I can't say I've ever aspired to working in a supermarket for the rest of my life." could easily be taken as an insult to those quit happily working in a supermarket for a long period of time. Similar as per what I said for Albur, if your opinion is not constructive to the thread topic then keep it to yourself.

ALBUR182

GoneShootin wrote: »

Albur & Magenta - quit yer bitching.

Albur - the right to an opinion is not something that gives you free reign to say whatever you like on boards.ie as it is a privately owned website & company. I'm not saying you've said anything untoward here, but just keep my comment in mind.

Magenta - " I can't say I've ever aspired to working in a supermarket for the rest of my life." could easily be taken as an insult to those quit happily working in a supermarket for a long period of time. Similar as per what I said for Albur, if your opinion is not constructive to the thread topic then keep it to yourself.

point taken mate, i just went on a bit of a rant at magenta there and apologies offered. But you're right, i've been working in supermarkets since I was 17 and its the only thing i know(despite a college degree in computing), so i find it harsh for someone to ridicule my choice of career:(

Mimojo

Hi all,

Just came across this thread, very interested, lots to take in!

I have recently applied for the Aldi Area Manager programme, and have been called for a group interview in a couple of weeks.

I am aware that this job is extremely demanding etc. but when you are unemployed with no prospect of getting back into employment in the near future given the recession I would be happy to given a crack at this job.

Anyhow is there anyone out there that can provide any advice on what to expect from this group interview? In particular I have read that there is an individual presentation, what kind of topics should be covered? A lot of the posts here are a litle old, so ANY advice from people who have gone through the interview process would be very much appreciated!

Finally does anyone know how many people they take on for his programme? What are the changes of getting a job with them at the moment?

Thanks a mill!

cloneslad

boozelerooze wrote: »

Hi all,

Just came across this thread, very interested, lots to take in!

I have recently applied for the Aldi Area Manager programme, and have been called for a group interview in a couple of weeks.

I am aware that this job is extremely demanding etc. but when you are unemployed with no prospect of getting back into employment in the near future given the recession I would be happy to given a crack at this job.

Anyhow is there anyone out there that can provide any advice on what to expect from this group interview? In particular I have read that there is an individual presentation, what kind of topics should be covered? A lot of the posts here are a litle old, so ANY advice from people who have gone through the interview process would be very much appreciated!

Finally does anyone know how many people they take on for his programme? What are the changes of getting a job with them at the moment?

Thanks a mill!

I did the group interview last may or so, I was also still working on my dissertation to complete my masters and was not fully excited or motivated to get the job.

When I went in we sat down at the table, about 8 or 10 of us there. First we introduced ourselves and spoke a bit about our background and education etc.

We were then handed one of the hypothetical situation (survival) manuals to read over and answer personally, we were then allowed to discuss it as a group and collectively come up with answers to the problems.

then we had a break, the guy doing the interview (donald mackay) reviewed our answers and marked them, it is preffered to gt a higher score working with the group than alone as it shows good team work ethic etc etc.

We then did quick maths and word tests, quite like an apptitude test but much much easier ( I found the maths and the vocab tests quite easy to be honest)

After this we were split into 2 equal group and told to discuss 'if fianna fail will be in power after the next election' or something like that. This was kind of my downfall as I had spent the last three years living in Korea and also in Belfast and not really keeping up to date with political issues.

After that donald allowed us to ask questions we had for him about the company/grad programme etc, he was very honest and informative (told us that although they paid well it wasn't out of generosity, you work for the money you get and with good organisational skills you could cut your hours to a suitable level)

After this we were given cheques to cover the distance travelled to the interview, which I wasn't expecting but was happy to receive.

You need to speak up, be heard and also be seen to be listening to ohers in the group. Try to lead but not arrogantly, look for opinions from those you think are not contributing due to nerves/shyness etc, it will show you are a team player etc etc.

I didn't get the job, but I also didn't really put in the effort. I could see some of the people there who would get offered the next round, they did most of the things I listed above, showed a great deal of intelligence on the subject being debated etc.

Good luck with it, most people complain that you might have to work 50 hours plus a week......so what?? I know if I went into a marketing job right now (which I would love to) I would be willing to work 60-70 hour weeks on much less of a salary and bonuses just to get my foot in the door.

Mimojo

cloneslad wrote: »

I did the group interview last may or so, I was also still working on my dissertation to complete my masters and was not fully excited or motivated to get the job.

When I went in we sat down at the table, about 8 or 10 of us there. First we introduced ourselves and spoke a bit about our background and education etc.

We were then handed one of the hypothetical situation (survival) manuals to read over and answer personally, we were then allowed to discuss it as a group and collectively come up with answers to the problems.

then we had a break, the guy doing the interview (donald mackay) reviewed our answers and marked them, it is preffered to gt a higher score working with the group than alone as it shows good team work ethic etc etc.

We then did quick maths and word tests, quite like an apptitude test but much much easier ( I found the maths and the vocab tests quite easy to be honest)

After this we were split into 2 equal group and told to discuss 'if fianna fail will be in power after the next election' or something like that. This was kind of my downfall as I had spent the last three years living in Korea and also in Belfast and not really keeping up to date with political issues.

After that donald allowed us to ask questions we had for him about the company/grad programme etc, he was very honest and informative (told us that although they paid well it wasn't out of generosity, you work for the money you get and with good organisational skills you could cut your hours to a suitable level)

After this we were given cheques to cover the distance travelled to the interview, which I wasn't expecting but was happy to receive.

You need to speak up, be heard and also be seen to be listening to ohers in the group. Try to lead but not arrogantly, look for opinions from those you think are not contributing due to nerves/shyness etc, it will show you are a team player etc etc.

I didn't get the job, but I also didn't really put in the effort. I could see some of the people there who would get offered the next round, they did most of the things I listed above, showed a great deal of intelligence on the subject being debated etc.

Good luck with it, most people complain that you might have to work 50 hours plus a week......so what?? I know if I went into a marketing job right now (which I would love to) I would be willing to work 60-70 hour weeks on much less of a salary and bonuses just to get my foot in the door.

Hey,

Thanks a mill for the feedback, it is very much appreciated!

It sounds like it is a tough interview, I think I would be the same, most of the tasks I would find ok, but I think I could fall on the debate, esp if it is about politics as I have never really kept that up to date on it and dont have a huge interest. Suppose can only do my best on the day! I am going to try and swot up a little bit, and hope for the best that I will know enough on the topic we are given.

I agree, if I could get a new job (I was in the construction sector which i loved, but have been let go) I would gladly work any hours they wanted me to for less money just to be in a job that I enjoy!

Mimojo

Anyone else out there have any experience with the group interview???

Immanuel_CAN

browner85 wrote: »

what exactly is a graduate job?
as in is a tradesman the same qualification?

a graduates job is an entry position for someone who has just graduated from a college degree programme, an honours bachelor degree would normally be a level 8 on the national framework for qaulifications (NFQ)

a trade qaulification would be a level 6 on the National framework of qaulifications.

the NFQ has 10 levels, junior cert is level 3, leaving cert level 5 trade qaulification level 6, some college diplomas level 7, bachelkor degrees level 8, masters degrees are level 9, and Phd level 10.

ftoolio

boozelerooze wrote: »

Anyone else out there have any experience with the group interview???

You've probably been through the process at this stage, but for anyone else doing a group interview I'd recommend practicing Aptitude tests, this will help on the day. There isalso some verbal reasoning testing, debating and survival type exercise which tests your ability to converse and reason with your colleagues.

I worked as a District manager with LIDL and know, the experience was good (plenty of responsibility), but the hours (60 +) were crazy and it's like going back to the 80's with regard to their processes and procedures. There is a serious fear mentality of management in the organisation, but from my experience that's the way they like it.

My advice is life is short enough, work to live, with LIDL it's live to work - NO work life balance!!!

All the best...

Mimojo

Cheers for the post, the group interview is next week so your comments are helpful! Can I ask did you have to give a 5 minute presentation on anything? What kind of topics did people cover?

I have read plenty about the type of work this job will entail, and I understand that it is going to be a very demanding role. However being unemployed with little job prospects I would be happy to give the job a shot!

Thanks

ftoolio

Hi, during the group interview I was asked to stand up and give a brief talk about myself, my backround and why I wanted the position of Area/District manager. I'd focus on what you can bring to the organisation, eagerness to achieve, not afraid of responsibility and of course commitment to results.

Do some research on what the position entails with regard to day to day activities. Productivity is key to the job, so looking at hours and forecasting is an essential part of the job. Inventories (stock taking) are also a major part of the job. Also you will be dealing with staff day in day out so interaction is key to that, so mention communction is one of your key strengths.

What I'll say to you is relax, be yourself and answer any questions directed to you in a constructive manner. A lot of people will try dicatate parts of the interview, let them. Get your point across, it's about how you interact and the content of what you are delivering.

Best of luck with it.

Mimojo

Cheers for that, is is good to know what to expect. I have done some research on the post, and can figure out the type of characteristics they are looking for. The idea of a group interview is a bit daunting, but as long as I get my point across, and make an impact on discussion I think that is more important than shouting everyone else down. Thank you for your help - much appreciated!

brian ireland

boozelerooze wrote: »

Cheers for that, is is good to know what to expect. I have done some research on the post, and can figure out the type of characteristics they are looking for. The idea of a group interview is a bit daunting, but as long as I get my point across, and make an impact on discussion I think that is more important than shouting everyone else down. Thank you for your help - much appreciated!

Best of Luck Next week boozelerooze with the interview.

Oasis44

I have to say that anyone still applying for jobs or attending interviews with either aldi or lidl after reading this thread needs their head examined. I got to the final stage with lidl for an AM role - the guy asked me what I thought of working 60+ hours a week - I told him it didnt sound appealing and that I actually had a life so I wouldn't be able to commit to that. He wasn't pleased but I gave him a smirk which implied 'i'm bigger than you and your **** job and I couldn't care less if your going to send me a PFO letter. Bye now'. They think they can offer a good salary and a car and basically buy you in return. These people are Nazi's and should be run out of Ireland IMO. My mate works for aldi and his wife is on the verge of divorcing him cause working there has destroyed their relationship - nice eh?. If any of you are offered a job do yourselves a favour and say no.

Mimojo

Cheers Brian!

SerialComplaint

Oasis44 wrote: »

the guy asked me what I thought of working 60+ hours a week - I told him it didnt sound appealing and that I actually had a life so I wouldn't be able to commit to that. He wasn't pleased but I gave him a smirk which implied 'i'm bigger than you and your **** job and I couldn't care less if your going to send me a PFO letter. Bye now'.

Why bother going for interview at all if you reckon that you are 'i'm bigger than you and your **** job'?

Oasis44

SerialComplaint wrote: »

Why bother going for interview at all if you reckon that you are 'i'm bigger than you and your **** job'?

I was offered a different job the day before my 3rd round interview with Lidl which I accepted. But i decided to attend the interview with Lidl anyway just to see what they would say re hours of work etc. As I said in my previous post they think working 60 hours a week is acceptable but it isn't. In fact the legal working hours per week in ireland is 48. They get their staff to sign out of the working time directive to get around this and if you dont sign out guess what? They renage on their offer. They are total c**ts excuse my language but they really have some balls - I have reported them to NERA but what they have done about i dont know.

paulie1981

ALBUR182 wrote: »

Just a little input into this dying thread, I've worked as assistant manager in Aldi for a few years now, before that I worked in Dunnes as manager, which I hated.
Aldi has always been very good to me, true there is a sense of small minded people ruining the eperience for others (i've had some sh!t area managers to work for but in general i just felt sorry for them), i have always found aldi to be fair and with a 45 hour week, if i worked even 1 hour over that in a week, then i would get that hour back ( in fact i owe the company about 100 hours from taking relaxing, shorter weeks and i've not been pressurised to work the hours back).
i should soon have my own store also, it takes a while to work your way up to the standard required of you, but the respect does come too as standard with 95% of the area managers.
Onto Area managers, my cureent area manager is a gentleman, and the area manager before him was firm but fair IMO, my AM finds the time to be with his family, works with a smile on his face, gives you the benefit of the doubt more often than not, and generally doesnt feel too much pressure from the bosses (its all about work ethic, but he works about 40 hours per week due to his organisation of his 4 stores)

The last thing i'll say is yes the work can be demanding in Aldi, without doubt, but the money is fine from head office down to store assistants( i take home close to €3000 PM) so no, i would not put anyone off joining Aldi

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T WORK FOR LIDL, I'M WARNING YOU!!!

It's interesting to see the vast variance in opinion of this company. On one hand they are the work of the devil, on the other they are firm but fair.

I am still considering applying (what harm?) as the overall package seems good. The website isn't misleading as it warns you at every turn that you will earn your money BUT, if you manage it progression is all but guaranteed.

I'd love to talk to a serving AM. I'm a salesman at heart, I think I might march into my local Aldi tomorrow and ask for a mobile number!

WooPeeA

If you're into retail go for it. Hard and tiring but you can get some good experience instead.

Dewdropdeb

I just wanted to chime in here. My husband has been working for Aldi for quite a few years. He's a store manager now and works his ass off. It's caused more rifts in our marriage than I can even begin to explain. Yesterday he worked from 6:30am to half past midnight. What's worse is he can't claim half those hours as he'll get in trouble, yet he can't keep the shop up to their standards and meet his goals without putting in these insane hours. Sometimes he can't even eat for the whole day and comes home ravenous. A lot of the work is heavy manual labour too. He is effectively trapped. The pay is so good that even going to somewhere like Marks or Superquinn is a substantial pay cut. They know exactly how to screw you like that. There is virtually zero chance of advancement and that's assuming you even last long enough to want it.

People call it very German, but in terms of management I find it very Irish. He never ever gets praise, something that's on par for most companies here. Having both had large corporate jobs abroad we were shocked coming over here. Positive reinforcement, like with children, is one of the best ways to motivate employees, but the Irish big business model doesn't seem to grasp that and Aldi is no exception.

The targets set are just barely achievable. They have "days out" in which the big boys from Naas come down and critique the individual shops. It's an absolute farce though as the area managers warn them in advance so they all work extra hard to get the shop perfect and as such no one higher up has any clue what the shop really looks like on a busy day. The fact that they stretch themselves so much to meet these targets just means that they will always be set higher setting in motion a vicious circle.

In terms of store management they aren't even really managers which has both downsides and up. The upside is they get to pass the buck on personnel issues, the downside is that they have very little authority and control.

The husband has been through 12 area managers in his time with them if that tells you anything about their side of things. Some of them were great people but had worked in proper companies prior and quickly became disillusioned with the Aldi mentality. It's obvious their new tactic is to hone in on graduates who don't know any better and will conform.

I would really really urge people to think twice about signing your soul away to these people especially if you have families to think about. The hierarchy of needs is one thing, but the sacrifice is not worth it.

In terms of shop assistant jobs, I think they have it ok. They are hourly and as such regulated by the law with enforced breaks, overtime and decent pay, but the contract employees get shat upon for sure. I keep thinking there must be some sort of legal recourse for these guys (there's currently a lawsuit in the US with several Aldi managers having had enough), but there's no union and like I said they are effectively trapped there caged in by the high salary.


All of this is just my opinion from what I've seen over the last few years. If I knew what I know now, I would never have let him even interview. *sigh*

donkey balls

there is a thing called the working time directive which means that an employee can only work 48hrs a week, even though your husband is a manager he is still an employee of the company.
the regulations also state that you must have a minimun rest period of 11hrs before returning to work.

I worked as a ops mgr in a company doing 60/80hrs a week on paper my salary looked good it was only when you divided it into the hours worked that i was on pair with someone working in mc donalds.

Shelga

I went to the graduate fair in the RDS a few months back, and was talking to the people running the Aldi stand. Even then the only reason they got my attention was the giant free chocolate bar! :pac:

Like a lot of people, I worked in a few supermarkets when I was 16/17/18 and despised it. Hate retail, just don't care about the customers. But the woman running the stand made it all sound so appealing, especially the €60k starting salary...

I just had to keep telling myself that it really is not worth the money if you have to sacrifice 60-70 hours a week in your early 20s doing a job you despise. Even despite all that, the Aldi graduate programme has come into my head on occasion, but I'm inclined to believe those on this thread who say it's akin to selling your soul.

Have been completely put off it now and am more motivated to start trying to get a job I'll really love (finish my Mech Eng degree in 6 weeks). So thanks for that!

billybigunz

What if you start the job, go over the year toeing the line and then just run the place strictly on a 40 hour or 48 hour week? What could they do?

They can't fire you if you are doing a good job in that time.

Oasis44

billybigunz wrote: »

What if you start the job, go over the year toeing the line and then just run the place strictly on a 40 hour or 48 hour week? What could they do?

They can't fire you if you are doing a good job in that time.

THEY GET YOU TO SIGN OUT OF THE WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE!!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WILL PEOPLE STOP APPLYING FOR JOBS WITH THESE COMPANIES - THEY ARE DEVIL INCARNATE!!

ANY YES I'M SHOUTING SO PEOPLE WILL F**KIN LISTEN:eek:

billybigunz

THEY GET YOU TO SIGN OUT OF THE WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE!!

You can't sign your legal rights away.

Oasis44

billybigunz wrote: »

You can't sign your legal rights away.

Correction mate you cant sign your 'inalienable rights' away (which are your rights to go where you please and say what you want within public policy).

Regarding the working hours directive Lidl get their staff to sign away this right or else they dont hire you - how do I know this? My mate works as a store manager and was told if you dont sign we dont hire - nice eh?

SerialComplaint

Dewdropdeb wrote: »

I just wanted to chime in here. My husband has been working for Aldi for quite a few years. He's a store manager now and works his ass off. It's caused more rifts in our marriage than I can even begin to explain. Yesterday he worked from 6:30am to half past midnight. What's worse is he can't claim half those hours as he'll get in trouble, yet he can't keep the shop up to their standards and meet his goals without putting in these insane hours. Sometimes he can't even eat for the whole day and comes home ravenous. A lot of the work is heavy manual labour too. He is effectively trapped. The pay is so good that even going to somewhere like Marks or Superquinn is a substantial pay cut.

You're screwing yourselves if you fall into the trap. There is more to life than money.