Aldi Area Manager

martinak89

Hi all. I'm sure this has been mentioned before but I was looking on irishjobs.ie and saw that there was a graduate job going at Aldi to train to be an area manager. Basically I was just wondering has any one any experience going for an interview for this job or know anyone in this position, because to me it seems like a dream come true as the Masters degree I have now in Zooarchaeology will not get me a job due to the recession and cut backs (the usual excuses ¬_¬). I'm sure the job is tough and expect it entails working 40+ hours a week but does anyone have any stories or experience with this?

Thanks.

yore

I know of someone who took one of those positions, or something similar, a few years ago. I'm not sure if it was Aldi or Lidl. I think he is now one of the top managers for either Ireland or Western Europe.

Seemed like a great gig with great training and opportunities to build yourself up the chain very quickly.

Great benefits and salary, but you will work hard and long hours. I think maybe even a 6 day week. And a lot of travelling between different shops.

That might have changed in the meantime, but I don't see why it would have. They want top performers. Your degree doesn't matter. They just want dedication, willingness to work and a ability to learn.

They will start you training for the first few months on the shop floor. Even if you are being taken on to become a senior manager. That's the way it used to be! (and the way it should be in my opinion). Fancy degrees or not doesn't change that fact.

Stheno

Do a search on this forum for Aldi manager or Lidl manager and you'll get plenty of info.

Denerick

Aldi/Lidl are extremely tough employers. You'll be working 70-80 hours minimum when you reach a high level. If you want a family you're going to have to find a very obliging wife. You will have basically no social life. You'll work six day weeks, and you'll be thinking about work on your one day off (Assuming you'll get one) You'll get a call at 8 in the afternoon telling you to head off to some store in Tipperary. You'll be worked like a machine, because that is how these employers consider their mangement staff to be. I know a few people who have done this whole process and it isn't uncommon to work until 10 at night and then in again at 6 the next morning.

Approach with severe caution. This kind of work isn't for everybody.

The rewards are great though. Really good pay, liberal approach to promotion. If you can speak German and another European language you can really do quite well for yourself. Aldi is gaining market share in Ireland and the UK so the opportunities will be there. But you need to think long and hard about it.

Mr. Talk

Denerick wrote: »

Aldi/Lidl are extremely tough employers. You'll be working 70-80 hours minimum when you reach a high level. If you want a family you're going to have to find a very obliging wife. You will have basically no social life. You'll work six day weeks, and you'll be thinking about work on your one day off (Assuming you'll get one) You'll get a call at 8 in the afternoon telling you to head off to some store in Tipperary. You'll be worked like a machine, because that is how these employers consider their mangement staff to be. I know a few people who have done this whole process and it isn't uncommon to work until 10 at night and then in again at 6 the next morning.

Approach with severe caution. This kind of work isn't for everybody.

The rewards are great though. Really good pay, liberal approach to promotion. If you can speak German and another European language you can really do quite well for yourself. Aldi is gaining market share in Ireland and the UK so the opportunities will be there. But you need to think long and hard about it.

Well with the huge pay you can't expect to be working only 40 hours a week. Can the manager not just get an employee to open and close the store, therefore freeing up their time?

Bepolite

Mr. Talk wrote: »

Well with the huge pay you can't expect to be working only 40 hours a week. Can the manager not just get an employee to open and close the store, therefore freeing up their time?

The legal maximum average in Ireland is 48. Both Aldi and Lidl seem to have eased off the hours requirements from what I can gather, I'm not sure if this is because they've come acropper in the labour court - but they certainly had reputations.

These chains would be very prescriptive about what processes are involved in, pretty much every aspect of the job. Opening and closing would have to conform to whatever policy they have in place.

Incidentally why are you replying to a 2 year old thread?

Mr. Talk

Bepolite wrote: »

The legal maximum average in Ireland is 48. Both Aldi and Lidl seem to have eased off the hours requirements from what I can gather, I'm not sure if this is because they've come acropper in the labour court - but they certainly had reputations.

These chains would be very prescriptive about what processes are involved in, pretty much every aspect of the job. Opening and closing would have to conform to whatever policy they have in place.

Incidentally why are you replying to a 2 year old thread?

But most proffesionals work an average of 50+ hours a week.
I may have replied to a two year old thread but you did answer!

Bepolite

Mr. Talk wrote: »

But most proffesionals work an average of 50+ hours a week.
I may have replied to a two year old thread but you did answer!

Perhaps, but most professionals aren't mopping floors and lifting pallets of cabbages around the place.