A new report has found that working for the supermarket, Aldi, is now as remunerative for graduates as being an investment banker or lawyer.
According to the annual Graduate Market study, Aldi is offering graduates £44,000 plus a company car, which is the same salary as many of the UK's top law firm. The competitive remuneration package from the German supermarket chain the company's attempt to attract high calibre graduates as it seeks to compete with more established rivals with a bigger market share.
Graduates who win the opportunity to train at some of the UK's leading law firms are paid a starting salary of £44,000.
Managing director at High Fliers research, Martin Birchall said, “People assume the best starting salaries are in the City or at law firms. But Aldi are one of several in the retail sector who are really investing heavily in their new graduates. Aldi started recruiting in the UK 15 years ago, and it joined our top 100 firms 12 years ago. Retail used to be one of those areas where it was towards the bottom in terms of starting salary, it is right up in the top few now.” The report titled as Graduate Market 2018 looks at the top 100 employers. The list was put together by analysing interviews with 20,000 final-year students about which company they believe offers the best opportunities for graduates.
Aldi was ranked 65th in 2002 and steadily climbed its way up, reaching 5th place in 2013. And this year Aldi was ranked third.
On the supermarket's graduates page, Aldi says, “You've probably heard that we give our graduates a fantastic package (including an Audi A4) and that it's 'really hard work'. The programme lasts for 12 months and, yes, it's tough... By week 14, you could hold the keys to at least one store. Eventually, you could be running your own multimillion pound business.”
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Graduates' choice
Top 10 rated employers
1. PwC
2. Civil Service
3. Aldi
4. Teach First
5. Google
6. Deloitte
7. NHS
8. KPMG
9. EY
10. GSK
Source: The Graduate Market in 2018
