ALDI Graduate Area Manager... Am I mad?

Billy claims to be a civil servant and has 0 emotional involvement with the work he does, if he even does work. Just ignore him. He's a clown.

billybigunz

Deleted User wrote: »

Billy claims to be a civil servant and has 0 emotional involvement with the work he does, if he even does work. Just ignore him. He's a clown.

How dare you. I care deeply about my job serving the public. I went for a lower paying career as I like the conditions and the public service side of things. Not like you ALDI mercanaries.

You have insulted me too many times in this thread. Is that the style of management that Aldi can expect?

billybigunz

billybigunz wrote: »

How dare you. I care deeply about my job serving the public. I went for a lower paying career as I like the conditions and the public service side of things. Not like you ALDI mercanaries.

You have insulted me too many times in this thread. Is that the style of management that Aldi can expect?

I don't work in Aldi you bloody lunatic. I'm just defending the people you've insulted from your petulant, unrealistic, emotionally unstable views not to mention laughing at your egotistical warrior keyboard private messages you've sent me.

Penisland

billybigunz wrote: »

How dare you. I care deeply about my job serving the public. I went for a lower paying career as I like the conditions and the public service side of things. Not like you ALDI mercanaries.

You have insulted me too many times in this thread. Is that the style of management that Aldi can expect?

You are just an advert for justifying public service pay cuts

cocopopp

Billy this will be the last message to you.... In my origonal post I asked did anyone have any info on the Grad Programme. You hopped on very belligerent and immediately attacked Aldi and perhaps many peoles choice of career on this thread.No sir how dare you! If you cant take it dont give it.How big some act while behind the comfort of a keyboard.

Your attitude is foul and it is disheartening to know that there are people like you in the public sector. Irresponsible bureaucrats whom the people of Ireland depend upon for their services. You have not only shamed yourself but also have let down your colleagues.

And by the way, We the PEOPLE OF IRELAND dont pay your wages so you can go on Boards.ie while your meant to be working!

billybigunz

Cleanup on aisle 5! Good luck with that.

dudara

billybigunz Why do you keep cropping up on my radar?

Please show respect to other posters, or this infraction will turn into a ban.

cocopopp as you are a new poster, I didn't infract you - but you would be well advised to stop replying and dragging yourself further into this mess. Please read the forum charter.

dudara

___?

Hi folks, I am ___? and I really am confused here. Been doing a helluva lot of research into the Lidl Degree which produces DSM (Deputy Store Managers). I have read a wealth of comments and posts around the web saying that the work is too hard and the hours are too much and they crush your soul...Then, I read from others who seem to say that it is just hard work that is needed.

1. Have those who worked for ALDI/LIDL and complained ever worked in retail previously?
I have worked in the hospitality industry for around 4 and a half years now. I have worked my fingers to the bone and put in my 50 hour weeks and was never given the opportunities that Aldi/Lidl provide. The problem with a large majority of those who post on the internet is that they have never done a solid day's work. Feel free to call me a culchie etc. but if you had spent your summers working on the bog from 8am til 12pm, working with sheep from 1pm until 5pm and then working in a bar from 6pm until 4am(on a good night) - you would damn glad and well able for one of the Aldi/Lidl positions. However, I reckon based on what I have heard, the kind of person who stays in their room all day and night playing MMORPGs and using words like, "PWND" and "n00b", in daily life will not be suitable for the positions...would I be right in thinking this?

2. Is anyone here doing the Lidl Degree program?
Can anyone tell us what it is like? How is it structured? Any big problems?

3. "Don't feed the troll"

longhalloween

DubDani wrote: »

Aldo won't do Share options etc. as they are 100% privately owned... just fyi...

But great package they offer, and generally a good company to work for. Adding to another comment someone made about badly paid staff in the shops... even in the lower end Aldi and Lidl both pay far above minimum wage. AFAIK they pay 10.65 an hour for the cashiers vs 7.65 at tesco, Dunnes etc.

Second that! They make better money than many other retail stores. AFAIK its at least 10e per hour (handed a CV in once, but they dont take summer staff apparently)

My gf put a CV in too for a summer position and got called for an interview. They thought she was looking to be a manager?!! :D

twitty1

Hey guys...
I would appreciate some information about the aldi graduate programme. This coming year im finishing up my business degree in mark and mgt and I was thinking about applying as id like to work particularly in management... I would really appreciate if somebody could enlighten me as to a typical day in the life of an area manager? I would greatly appreciate any information. Cheers...

Denerick

I think I'm going to apply for this. Are they always taking applications or what?

scruff22

I am currently considering applying for the aldi area management job and have been reading the posts with interest.It seems that if you could stick the job for 2-3 years it would be great experience to put on your cv, however what direction do people take who have done the job for a similar period of time? If they tend to stay within retail it would seem to me,from the horror stories I've seen posted about other companies, that the hours wouldnt be much better at all..

professore

billybigunz wrote: »

Both!

Education plays a huge part though. Too many people mess up doing **** courses in bad colleges and repeating. No decent graduate employer will ever want to go near you after that. You then have to do things the hard way.

I must say I enjoyed your posts. What have you lined up for next March when the Government can't pay you anymore ? I'm sure a smart guy like you has a contingency plan you can share with the rest of us.

rumby

i have worked in aldi as an assistant store manager for seven years. and i enjoy it. they are a great company to work for as they are fair and treat everyone the same. managers do not wear suits and we have the same uniform as the store assistants. if the bin needs to be emptied a manager or a store assistant will empty it. i like that approach. i have met a handful of people within the company that i did not like in seven years. i have a 45 hour contract. if i work 45.5 hours i get that time back in lieu. i work one weekend a month. i have never signed anything in relation to working more hours. i get 5 weeks holidays a year and they contribute to my pension. the hours suit me as i never had a 9-5 job. they are very flexible with time off and unexpected situations like an emergency where you need time off.

we work hard and compared to other retail jobs we are paid more. they are a german productive company. over the years i have met a lot of people who have come from lidl to aldi. they generaly say that we pay more and are better to work for. the staff turnover is not high. usuallly all staff know quickly if they like the job.

area managers work about 50 hours a week. they work hard, are very approachable and are very good at their job.

good luck to any of you who have interview with aldi

Chrisoc

Hey all,

Just hoping someone can clear something up for me!

I'm really interested in working with aldi's property department, if it even exsists! I've gotten conflicting reports from loads of people, even their hr department and careers fair people!

Have aldi got a property department inhouse??? ie for sourcing sites etc

And to anyone doing the Area Manager Trainee course can you transfer to different areas like you can with Lidl??

Or is it just a case of apply directly to the hr department??

Cheers,

Chris

doolox

With respect to the hours one works and the measure of success in a career it all depends on the individual. Some people will work all the hours in their lives to get as much material goods as they can accumulate while others begrudge the standard 39 hour week.

I think myself that a 30 hour week would be ideal but not attainable for many reasons:

The price of housing.
The ****tiness of public transport forcing people to run cars.
The cost of energy in a cold country.
The cost of basics such as food and Healthcare here.

Which is why we may never have the magic 32 hour week of France or the early retirement (60) they also have.
I would say a person is very lucky if they love their job and work, then hours don't matter and things work themselves out in other spheres such as money and relationships..........
The person who hates their job and corporate bull**** in general is in a more unfortunate position........

danthefan

Chrisoc wrote: »

Hey all,

Just hoping someone can clear something up for me!

I'm really interested in working with aldi's property department, if it even exsists! I've gotten conflicting reports from loads of people, even their hr department and careers fair people!

Have aldi got a property department inhouse??? ie for sourcing sites etc

And to anyone doing the Area Manager Trainee course can you transfer to different areas like you can with Lidl??

Or is it just a case of apply directly to the hr department??

Cheers,

Chris

Aldi don't seem to have a HR department.

There is a property department.

When you enter the area manager course you have to see it out as far as I know, if you perform and opportunities open up you can be promoted.

Chrisoc

Thats great Danthefan, Cheers.

One another note has anyone here ever done the Lidl International Trainee Progamme??? What was it like? The break down of the programme etc???

Ta,

mickmcl09

Having worked for one of these Corporate Giant Discounters as an A.M. I can give you the following advice/info.

Are you willing to work more than the statutory 48hrs/wk most weeks?
Will it bother you that unless your time mgt skills are excellent and I mean of the highest calibar, you should expect to work 55-62 hours/wk most weeks?

Lidl/Aldi pay a high salary - divide it by the hours you will work.

Will it bother you that all of the other grocery retailers will not consider you for store mgt positions never mind area mgt positions after you leave (or you've been pushed out)? Remember these 2 are discounters NOT grocery retailers!

Will it bother you that on a you may get a bigger bollicking on a Monday/Tuesday for the previous weeks store results on a Week that you felt you put more into the job?

Will it bother you that essentially you are only as good as your store managers and their ability to run a store for you? Yes, your reputation is heavily dependant on the ability of your mgt teams in each of your stores - Ask yourself where you will get the time to develop these people to become better more efficient managers when they're mostly already worked to within an inch of their lives?

Will it bother you that alot of these store managers that will work in your area/district will have relationship issues, break-ups or partners that may seem to be distracting them from their jobs, when the real reason is that these managers have let their partners down in the past, whether it's not being home at an agreed time for dinner or not being off on the kids sports day or leaving the 'getting the birthday card 'til the last minute' because of work 'time mgt' issues......these mgrs that will work for you are stressed out of their minds trying to balance home life and work life, so if you want this job, make sure you have a heavy heart and make sure that you will be able to 'put these guys in their boxes' otherwise you won't last long.....so, are you the hardened, heartless type? If not, don't apply.

What do you expect to get from the position?
Money - Good, but divide by the hours.
Worklife balance - Non existent
Experience - (Bad) Will not be considered by other grocery retailers.
(Good) A future employer who knows what Lidl/Aldi are about will know that you're battle hardened, a warrior as Bill Cullen would say. You'll have a high tolerance to long hours, lack of respect from your line manager and basically a high tolerance to anything else that most decent employers will deem as unacceptable behaviour toward a sub-ordinate.

There's alot of hot air being spewed about signing out of directives etc. b......t, you don't sign anything of the sort, it's a case of if you don't work the hours, some of the required work is not completed, if your line manager spots this basically that's your first strike and so on.

For those of you who really want one of these jobs, all of you have missed one glaringly obvious difference. One that should point you in the direction of which of these 2 giants you want to work for.

Whose staff look happier?
Whose managers look under less pressure?
Whose staff look more tired?

Notice how a 'few' from Aldi have defended their jobs and none from Lidl.

Notice the honest feedback from partners posts on this thread.

I worked for one of these Giants for 5 years.
I was enthusiastic, I love retail, I still love retail, I'd jump through hoops to impress, I love having pride in who I work for etc etc etc

BUT

It's eventually knocked out of you.
You'll need to take some time out of the work force when they're finished with you.
You'll need a loving family or partner to nurse your confidence back to where it was before you joined.


I'd love to write a book about one of these and show Ireland what they are condoning by shopping in their stores.

Do you want to work for people who have

1. Scant regard for rest periods, although they have internal checking mechanisms to cover their arses.
Managers clocking out at 6pm, not leaving til 9/10pm and coming back into work for 7am. These guys get reprimanded if they break the rest period regulations but they're caught between a rock and a hard place in order to get the work done. So they clock out and keep working.

2. Scant regard for Data Protection Law, although again they have mechanisms in place to give the opposite impression.

3. Will be happy to terminate your employment at the drop of a hat for a number of reasons. a. They don't like you. b. You are due a pay rise. c. They have upcoming 'green' trainees to take your place. d. They will be confident that you won't take them on because you don't want to damage your future employment prospects.

With the extreme demands of the job it's very easy to pick holes in your performance and hence generate invitations to disciplinary meetings.
2 decisions against you in any 12 month period and your dust.
Not to mention that some of these charges may be construed as gross misconduct and 1 decision will see you out the door.

Have no illusions about working for these companies.

On a positive note there are some great people working for these companies as well. The culture of the companies drive them in a direction where they are very competitive environments to work in, which means your colleague is either brilliant at what they do and would win The Apprentice hands down OR they're the less than brilliant where they'll cut you in two in order to survive.

DO YOU STILL WANT TO WORK FOR lidl/aldi?

gussieg

I say go ahead and write the book. Very little is really known about the inside workings and people would be fascinated to read about it. I just hope its not like the Insider, where they come looking for you to shut you up .

mickmcl09

gussieg wrote: »

I say go ahead and write the book. Very little is really known about the inside workings and people would be fascinated to read about it. I just hope its not like the Insider, where they come looking for you to shut you up .

Thanks for the encouragement.
Thanks to those who PM'd as well.
I've listed 10 possible chapters already in the last 24 hours.
The lid is going to be blown if I get my way.
I can assure you that it won't matter if they come my way, my mind has been made up this morning - this book is going to happen.

This will be for all those people who suffered at the hands of these ......words have escaped my now - they'll be revealed and described in the book.

I'm already looking forward to the opinion of a certain M.D. when he finds out how his staff are being treated, I suspect he may already know how staff get treated. Will he sing dumb and let certain Regional Directors and Operation Managers take the fall? Or will he stand up and be counted?

Knowing how these operations operate, this post will probably be on his desk today...........we'll see.

mooneyd

I have read the horror stories posted.

Today I recieved a call for an interview.
I have worked in retail since 2007 early 2008 I became a retail manager. Working in mobile communications.

The store is an hour from where I live. I am a hard worker and am very hands on. First I need to point out that im 23 with no family responsibilities other than my girlfriend iv moved around alot as a child so really only have 2-3 close friends that I meet so the social life aspect I dont think will affect me too much.

The 70 hours a week are a serious turn off to be frank.
At my age my CV & money are the 2 main things im looking for with a job. So the fact that retail stores class them as a discounter. (but with the mix of retail managment and the size of these stores would be a benifit)

The question is the idea if sticking with it for a year saving a small fortune. (no insurance to pay for my car wear and tear on a car, nice wages(yes Vs hours it may not be all that much but its the money in hand that I will be happy to see).

So my question is...
Im I being locical thinking about this for a year?
And being young and having less commitments than the average person am is this more of a job to suit those who dont have a family?

mickmcl09

mooneyd wrote: »

I have read the horror stories posted.

Today I recieved a call for an interview.
I have worked in retail since 2007 early 2008 I became a retail manager. Working in mobile communications.

The store is an hour from where I live. I am a hard worker and am very hands on. First I need to point out that im 23 with no family responsibilities other than my girlfriend iv moved around alot as a child so really only have 2-3 close friends that I meet so the social life aspect I dont think will affect me too much.

The 70 hours a week are a serious turn off to be frank.
At my age my CV & money are the 2 main things im looking for with a job. So the fact that retail stores class them as a discounter. (but with the mix of retail managment and the size of these stores would be a benifit)

The question is the idea if sticking with it for a year saving a small fortune. (no insurance to pay for my car wear and tear on a car, nice wages(yes Vs hours it may not be all that much but its the money in hand that I will be happy to see).

So my question is...
Im I being locical thinking about this for a year?
And being young and having less commitments than the average person am is this more of a job to suit those who dont have a family?

I assume you have applied for area/district manager, since you mention a car.
You need a 2.1 degree also.

At 23, this job might be for you, but if it might be, going in with the attitude that you might stick it for a year - your finished before you even start in the job. You'll opt out and pack it in fairly quickly if it was your intention just to stay for a year anyway.

Having said that, you'll have more than a deposit on a house after say 18 months, so great start financially.

On the other hand, while I don't know have a crystal ball - your girlfriend will definitely be the one for you if she's still with you after 2 years in the job.
The job has the almighty potential to tear your relationship apart especially because relative to a guy in his 30's with kids you have very little commitments.

The problem with how other employers will look at your experience in Lidl/Aldi is that you'll probably be looking at vacancies paying you 60-80% of what you've been used to earning at Lidl/ALdi, hence the trap where some poor souls ending up working for these giants for as long as they can bear it in order to provide for the lifestyle that their wives and kids have become accustomed to.

darroch

Well thank god i found this thread after searching on google about people talking about Aldi's graduate scheme...!

It's taken me two nights to read the fantastic 16 page topic!

I just submitted my app on Sunday because of a times or guardian article last year talking about the perks of this job and also a mate of mine who is a doctor going on about the crazy £40k wage and how it would appeal to him. I probably bet not after reading this...!

I'll put myself through the whole process still. I know the horror stories on here are a true reflection of the extremity of the job. Like the previous poster, I'm 23, little social network and a solid girlfriend who will stick by me. But these hours for that length of time seem OTT.

I'll keep you all posted when I hear back...hopefully at least got through the initial stage!

This is a brilliant topic, keep it going people

mooneyd

mickmcl09 wrote: »

I assume you have applied for area/district manager, since you mention a car.
You need a 2.1 degree also.

At 23, this job might be for you, but if it might be, going in with the attitude that you might stick it for a year - your finished before you even start in the job. You'll opt out and pack it in fairly quickly if it was your intention just to stay for a year anyway.

Having said that, you'll have more than a deposit on a house after say 18 months, so great start financially.

On the other hand, while I don't know have a crystal ball - your girlfriend will definitely be the one for you if she's still with you after 2 years in the job.
The job has the almighty potential to tear your relationship apart especially because relative to a guy in his 30's with kids you have very little commitments.

The problem with how other employers will look at your experience in Lidl/Aldi is that you'll probably be looking at vacancies paying you 60-80% of what you've been used to earning at Lidl/ALdi, hence the trap where some poor souls ending up working for these giants for as long as they can bear it in order to provide for the lifestyle that their wives and kids have become accustomed to.

Actually store manager just read what i could find so maybe was specs of obviosly an asm role.

At the moment I work pretty flat our for 24-28k covering role of manager and assistant manager.

Why is it that people are working so long though?

mickmcl09

mooneyd wrote: »

Why is it that people are working so long though?

For a normal grocery supermarket, wages come in at 11-14%.
For a discounter this figure could be one third of that.

Managers are paid a salary, no overtime - so inevitably they take up the slack if the work is not done. The mgt will clock out at say 5 or 6 in the evening, but they will continue working. This suits the corporate giants as it looks like they are implementing rest period regulations and that staff welfare is high on their list of priorities.

The real deal is that manager is going to be in a spot of bother the following day if he gets a visit and he has gone home immediately after clocking out, when the store is simply not going to be closed down properly or price changes or layouts are not going to be fully implemented, because the staff that are rostered on for the evening will be overstretched to get it all done.

Here's the deal. Work, sorry CLOCK more than 48 hours, more than 5 days per week, breach 11 hour or 35 hour rest periods - it flags immediatly in Head Office. Rest violations are put on a league table and it's used as a stick to beat A.Ms, who then turn on the Store Manager that staff working over the statutory maximum is not acceptable.

So, the manager gets it in the ear if he breaches rest periods as per his clocking card, ALTERNATIVELY, he's going to end up at an invitation to a disciplinary at some point for 'unsatisfactory completion of duties' because unltimately he left the store when he had his quota of hours worked, but the duties weren't completed.


Right now, because of higher levels of unemployment, alot of employers not just Aldi/Lidl are exerting ''excessive'' pressure on employees because they know that the employee is more lightly to tow the line as he has no other job to go to.

mooneyd

Thanks for that.

Something tells me this is happening more in city stores than midland stores? Or am I wrong?

SerialComplaint

mickmcl09 wrote: »

Managers clocking out at 6pm, not leaving til 9/10pm and coming back into work for 7am.

Just call in NERA.

Justice_Thumbs

Anyone hear back from Lidl re their grad programme?? Closing date was a few weeks ago.. Havn't heard anything back yet!

Dewdropdeb

SerialComplaint wrote: »

Just call in NERA.

I would if I could do so anonymously, but I cannot and am worried it would come back on my husband.

Latest offences:

- Alarm calls at all hours of the nights, requiring him to go to the store 99% of the time.
- Said alarm call company being in the UK, him having to phone them several times a month on our home phone or his mobile without any reimbursement
- Not giving the customers the store phone number, so he has to give out his mobile and deal with customers on his extremely limited personal time.
-Essentially his mobile is used for 90% work and there's not compensation at all.
- Ridiculous "board visits" in which the whole shop is repainted, staff are worked overtime to get the store into pristine conditions so some suits in Germany can come schmooze for an hour. His daily hours were 18-20 hours per day in the week leading up to this. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. They are even given a list of things that would be appropriate to talk about with the suits and political issues/topics they should brush up on. They have to make them lunch with their own products and they have to pretend they didn't just work their arses off for the last month getting the shop ready. Such a farce.
-Less dramatic "days out" in which the big boys come from Naas, but as above it's all meticulously planned and farcical. They work overtime for a few days before the visit trying to get everything perfect. Surely I don't have to point out the stupidity of this method of management? Wouldn't anyone higher up be better off showing up unannounced at a busy time to see how things really are as opposed to what they want him to see?
- Having assistant managers constantly shipped around to other shops and being given trainees to replace them, effectively increasing his work hours as he tries to get his job done and still train people. It also reduces productivity which directly impacts their take home pay.


Having said all that, it's been six years now and I finally think we're getting into the swing of it, work life balance is getting a bit better through conscious effort on his part, although maybe it just seems like that because I'm working again, so don't miss him as much.

He has an extremely high work ethic being used to 50+ hour weeks in his previous job. However this is different. Putting in 80 hour weeks and only being able to claim 45 of them is just wrong.

As I stated previously, I'd strongly caution anyone looking into a management position at Aldi. If you have a family I would recommend against it. Is the extra few quid worth never seeing them and the variety of marital issues that might arise through your absence? I don't think so.