Meet our grads

In my spare time, I like to play a lot of rugby, I coach my two boys and I also play for our team in the local area.

I'm most passionate about the development of my two young boys and being a real role model, investing my time in their progression and how they can be better adults in the future. My role model is actually my father. It took me a long time to realise how much it takes to be a dad and the amount of time and investment he put into me as an individual. I didn't really appreciate it until I became a father myself.

I'd say my strengths are that I'm a real team player - I like to look for opportunities to make people's lives better. I like to collaborate with others and really get to the crux of any issue and work it out together.

I grew up overseas in Germany, and Lidl was a brand that I was obviously aware of. I used to love going out with my parents and shopping, and it was definitely something that was on the forefront of my mind as I was going through my degree process.

My background is in the armed forces, where I also studied for my degree. Towards the end of my degree, I wanted to expand on my experience and translate that into the civilian world, and I thought that Lidl was the right employer and brand for that. They had a great reputation and I felt like I could really develop in this organisation. So I took the plunge and applied!

I would describe my grad programme as challenging, but fun.

It's really given me an insight into how such a large-scale organisation operates, and how I can apply what I learn, not just in a professional manner, but in a personal manner as well. It's given me a real balance and structure to how I want to operate in the future.

I think the programme is - and isn't - what I expected. I expected it to be challenging and to learn a lot about the business, but actually it's given me way more. There’s the opportunity to go and visit other locations and understand how they operate - there's so much room to manoeuvre. People are always willing to answer questions outside of their remit which is great.

It’s given me a real opportunity to develop who I am and actually highlighted skills I didn't know I had. I didn't realise how focused I was on efficiencies; how we can save time, money, make jobs easier for people. How I can make someone's life better just by changing something in the business or having the right conversations. I've really enjoyed it.

I get on really well with the other grads. I share the grad programme with another grad here in Peterborough, and we have a very strong relationship in which we can float ideas about how the programme is structured, and what we're doing day to day. There are opportunities to find out what she may have learned that I haven’t, and vice-versa. That’s the same for the other grads around the country. If I have an issue I can reach out to another grad, and they're always willing to help.

I think being flexible, being adaptive, and being willing to collaborate. Things aren't always going to go as smoothly as you predict, and it's just about having those open conversations and figuring out, as a team, how to work any inefficiencies out, how to iron out any issues and make life easier for everyone. I think a grad with solid, flexible ways of working and an understanding of how other people and other cultures operate, is really beneficial for the programme and for the business.

What I'm most excited about is opportunity. I really want to expand my knowledge of how the business works holistically, and I've still got time in the grad programme to understand how other departments work. But there's definitely scope for me to move around and really understand from different perspectives what works for them and what doesn’t. So now I have a better understanding of the business and I can strive for what I want to do in the future.