Tara Cahill, talent acquisition and employer brand manager at Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland says: "I first started working at Lidl Ireland over nine years ago.

“I began working as an administrator for the HR department and through the years, gained the valuable experience, both personally and professionally, to do the job I do now.

“I have been involved in the Lidl Graduate Programme from the day it was first introduced.”

The award-winning programme has been running for eight years.

“Lidl has designed an 18-month programme around all business areas that make up our bread and butter – retail sales,” Cahill says.

During the programme, training takes place in a minimum of three different business areas – retail, warehousing and a stream within the head office.

All applicants have the opportunity to apply for one of 13 different business streams ranging from human resources, supply chain, logistics, retail operations, public relations among others.

Cahill says each graduate on the Lidl programme receives a bespoke development plan to ensure they gain a rounded knowledge of the overall business and specialist training in their main area of interest.

“As we have so many options within our graduate programme, the type of person we look for can vary from stream to stream.

“Most importantly, we look for someone with a natural interest and affiliation to retail and multinational businesses, someone who wants to gain experience in a fast-paced environment and someone with an excellent work ethic.

“However, our key to success is diversity and innovation,” she says.