Tricia Madge

Employer: Transport for London
Qualifications: geography and politics, Keele University

Why the London Underground?

When I graduated I really wanted to move to London and work in the public sector. Mention London and you immediately think of the Tube, and there just seemed to be loads of opportunities within the company. I was looking at other public sector organisations but the scheme here seemed more diverse.

Everyone's got an opinion on the Underground so you have to deal with a lot of comments and people whinging about their journeys or a specific situation. It's nice in a way, because everyone wants to talk about the job I do. I also get the opportunity to change people's minds and explain why we do things in a certain way.

What does your job involve? 

I work in shifts with a team of four other duty station managers. We manage the Oxford Circus group, which is basically Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus, and we're in charge of 150 staff. We deal with the normal management stuff - staff problems, attendance and so on - as well as strategic initiatives and emergency incidents. We had a track fire between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus recently, and I had to organise the emergency services and take control of all the people coming in and out of the station.

It was quite daunting at the time and it was only afterwards I sat back and thought: ‘That was in the middle of rush hour - how many people were affected?' I love working with the staff and the customers. It sounds cheesy, but it's great to make a difference to people's journeys. And you really get a taste of the whole business - be that operationally on the front line or in management. My initial placement was in providing revenue support for the stations, and since then I've worked in customer information and with the company directors on different projects.

What about the future? 

The great thing is that I have so many transferable skills. I've been able to study for a diploma in management studies, which, coupled with the management skills that I have developed on the job, means that I could go into various customer-focused management roles - retail management would be the most obvious. I'd certainly like to stay in this sector for the next five years and do my current job on a more permanent basis - I really enjoy the atmosphere of working in the station. 

Any tips for graduates? 

You really need to be enthusiastic and have a passion for customer services. You also need to be self-motivated and try not to get dragged down by criticism - it's important to be positive and adaptable, too. As for degree subjects, it depends on the scheme. For the customer services role there are graduates from all backgrounds, but for other schemes, such as finance or marketing, you might need maths, business or a management-related degree.