At first glance it seems surprising that one of the employers graduates most
want to work for is Aldi, the discount retailer. At number eight in The
Times Top 100 Graduate Employers table, it comes just after the BBC and two
positions above Goldman Sachs, which weighs in at number ten.
Aldi, however, offers one of the most generous graduate remuneration packages
in the United Kingdom — better than many investment banks. Starting salaries
are £40,000 — about 73 per cent higher than the average graduate salary of
£23,000 — and the company car is an Audi A4.
Then there is the pension, private healthcare, life assurance, five weeks’
paid holiday, opportunities for international secondment and the chance of a
directorship within five years.
At a time when most graduates are shunning the retail sector, Aldi offers some
of the most challenging entry-level graduate jobs in the country. The
company seeks to recruit people with the potential to become area managers.
It has been taking on about 100 graduates a year but next year will hire
150. The jobs, however, are not for the fainthearted.
Apart from requiring a 2.1 from a good university, the company looks for
“people who have something extra about them”, says Dan Ronald, one of Aldi’s
regional managing directors who is responsible for graduate recruitment.
“Something that makes them stand out from the crowd. That can be anything
from achievement in sport, voluntary work, travel — anything that makes us
think they have a bit more get up and go than the average graduate.”
Recruits need to have the right blend of aptitude and attitude. They need a
can-do, get-the-job-done attitude and the personality to lead and get the
best out of other people. “We are looking for people who want a lot of
responsibility very quickly, relish decision making and who are excited by
the pace of opportunities offered in Aldi,” Ronald says. “In three years
here you can get where it would take you ten years to get in another
company.”
Aldi operates in the booming discount sector and prides itself on offering a
limited range of high quality foodstuffs and other goods at very low prices.
It has 400 stores in the UK and is planning to open a new store every week
for the next 15 years.
Globally this international business — there are 8,000 outlets worldwide — has
opened a new store every three days for the past 60 years.
“Our graduates are thrown in at the deep end,” Ronald says. “Right from day
one there is a high expectation that you must perform, contribute and take
on all the responsibility we throw at you.” The 12-month personalised
training programme involves, among other things, two months spent serving
customers, stacking shelves and cleaning warehouses and, just eight weeks
after joining the company, running a store, for three months.
After a year, graduates are expected to take on a group of between three and
six stores as an area manager. Within three years they could be earning
£57,750.
“You are expected to treat the business as if it were your own,” Ronald says.
“You make decisions as if it were your own money you were spending. You
treat people as if they were employed by you personally and you treat them
very well to get the best out of them.”
One in three graduate recruits, however, fails to stay the course. Either Aldi
does not suit them or they do not suit the company.
We are high-calibre individuals
Kate McGrath, a 23-year-old business studies graduate from Leeds Metropolitan
University, is an area manager with Aldi earning £45,500. Her package
includes a company Audi A4.
She is responsible for five stores in Crewe, Nantwich, Chester Wrexham and
Mold and is about to open another store in Flint.
“It’s a very, very challenging job,” she says. “No day is the same. Our sales
are really high at the moment so I have to make sure we have enough sales
assistants, that our ordering of goods is correct and that we have
sufficient product availability.
“The Flint store is opening in two weeks’ time so I also have to meet
contractors, site managers, the mayor and a local school choir for the
opening day.
“You have to be ultra efficient — you need to be organised and to prioritise.
We do not have time to revisit things — it has to be right first time.
“We are paid a lot of money because we are high-calibre individuals who bring
a lot to the table. We work the hours that we need to work to get all of our
work done. The job is certainly not for everyone.”
There is a distinctive Aldi culture that stems from it being a privately owned
German company. “We are very punctual as a company,” McGrath says. “We are
never ever late — in fact we are 15 minutes early for everything. The
managers keep their company cars immaculate at all times.
“An area manager almost has a certain appearance,” she adds. “Tied-back hair,
very conservative in dress and not at all fashionable. We tend to wear a
certain sort of suit. We write with good pens, would never use a ballpoint
pen, and all use the same diaries.
“It seems very regimented but there is a reason behind it — it’s just because
we don’t want to offend anyone really — we just want to be standard.”
