Chuks

Retail

Job title - Manager, Non-food
Joined - 2004
Degree - Economics with International Business Management, Newcastle University

I wanted to work for a big company in a customer-facing role while also putting the skills I'd learned at university into running a business. ASDA ticked all the boxes and also had a great culture that suited my personality.

Now I'm about to finish my first placement on the graduate programme - Manager of the Home section of a store in Newcastle. There are about 12 managers per store, each with their own section, and my next placement will probably be Produce so I experience a different part of the business.

Working in retail is really satisfying. I like the idea of turning supermarket shopping into a pleasant experience. Reacting to shopping patterns means it's also really fast moving. I can't stay still for a second. For example if I find out a TV is being sold more cheaply with a competitor, I have to act as fast as I can, phone ASDA House and get permission to lower the price.

The highlight of my career so far was definitely the feedback I got from our anonymous 'We're Listening' survey. This is an annual survey which gauges what colleagues think of the managers. Our department had the lowest mark in the store when I joined. Now we have the joint highest so I must have made a difference. I couldn't stop smiling!

A lot of my job calls for business management skills but at the end of the day it's people skills that really matter. I manage 30 colleagues and I'm responsible for both their work and their wellbeing. The level of people management involved in the role surprised me. I expected customer interaction, but not that.