Product Development & Merchandiser in Hand Tools
What motivated you to pursue a career in the industry
Hello, I’m Tracy and I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Logistics engineering and management. Upon graduation, I’m passionate to work in retail industry and I always wanted to know how company cope with the competitive and fast-changing market to achieve long-term success.
I found the Lidl & Kaufland Asia on LinkedIn and a job post offering Graduate trainee program. The program supports fresh graduates to rotate through different department and I believed this is a good opportunity for me to develop my career interests in retail industry. So, here I’m as part of 2023 graduate trainee.
Can you describe your experiences and responsibilities during your rotations in the graduate trainee program
In my first rotation, I worked in Hand tools – Product Development Team. What I did was to conduct market research on new potential items, review any similar brands and their selling price. Then, communicate with suppliers on making product prototype and price negotiations.
Currently, I’m in my second rotation, working as a merchandiser in hand tools team. After receiving order confirmation, I work with different team for lab testing process, packaging design and production planning. The main responsibility of a merchandiser is to make sure the orders go as planned. In addition, I spent more time accumulating my product knowledge, such as how to define a good quality item, how to ensure a good customer experience when using our product.
The opportunity to work in same team but different functions gave me an in-depth understanding of retail operations from initial project proposal to final delivery. That’s what I like about graduate program. My biggest professional win throughout my first-year completion is I can handle multiple orders independently now, including new and repeat items. I started leading meetings with different parties which shaped my independence in the workplace.
Can you share some experience you have had
I would say the people I worked with is very supportive and open-minded. When things get tough, we discuss them openly and try to figure out how to work around them.
At Lidl & Kaufland Asia, there are skills trainings or interest workshops for colleagues, which make you feel involved. I participated in negotiation training and fluid painting workshops, and the invited trainers were very interactive and I really enjoyed these activities. This year, I joined hand tools team building at the Bomb Battle HK. The bond within the team became stronger after tackling the mission games together. Good relationships in the workplace can be effective in enabling teams to accomplish more.
At a Hands Tool Team Building
Fluid Painting Workshop
What tips would you share to making the most of Lidl & Kaufland Asia's Graduate Trainee Programmme
Be brave and positive. As a new joiner, sometimes we may worry about saying the wrong thing, and we will play more of a listener role. Reflecting my journey at Lidl & Kaufland Asia, I’m grateful that I accepted ad-hoc assignment from my manager. Although my work was rejected many times before getting final affirmation, every feedback means a lot to me because I could see things from a different perspective which further shapes my viewpoint on business.