Having to get a summer job isn’t the most fun thought. When we plan our summer break, most of us imagine it being filled with holidays, picnics, day trips, catching up with family and old school friends. However, the reality is that we have to work in order to keep on top of the constantly rising rent and food shops and bills, bills, and more bills! That is why I want to share with you one of the best summer jobs I have worked which generously topped up the bank account to help me through the second year of uni, whilst also being a highlight of a very fun summer!
Lots of people are surprised when I tell them that I have worked The Championships, Wimbledon; many seem to think that there is some kind of strange restriction on who can work there, but applying for this post closely resembled my experience of applying for a standard sales assistant job. However, for me the interview was far more exciting because it was held at the All England Lawn Tennis Club and, I must confess, I am a huge tennis fan. Although, again, absolutely not a requirement as most of the team I worked with couldn’t even name ten tennis players! Many people choose to work at Wimbledon because it is a fun environment, whether you are a fan or not; the customers you are dealing with are not exhausted, end-of-the-work-day, stressed people tutting at you on the till because the transaction is taking too long, but are mostly happy people who are so excited to finally be at, arguably, the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. I can honestly say I enjoyed every day that I worked in the shop on the grounds of the club. However, my favourite part of the job was outside of the shop entirely and was the opportunity to spend each break watching tennis on Henman Hill – a spot I had always envied people for when shown on TV. I still can’t believe all my amazing memories of watching some of my favourite tennis players from there… often accompanied by a pot of the classic strawberries and cream!
Another great perk of the job is the food allowance as we were given around £18 a day (this depends on how long your shift is) which covered a main meal and plenty of snacks; my go-to was chicken katsu curry for lunch and always one (but occasionally two) tubs of strawberries and cream which somehow consisted of the tastiest strawberries every time. Additionally, we were provided with Ralph Lauren kit which probably added up to what we were paid for the fortnight! As I was working in the new Ralph Lauren shop, I was wearing the same kit as the ballgirls – from the navy and white striped tops right down to the Ralph socks! The court attendants wear a different colour kit to ballgirls and boys, so it caused some confusion that we didn’t. I had one very excited lady run to catch up with me on my way home one day asking me what it was like to be a ballgirl and I had never felt like such a fraud. She was pretty disappointed I just worked in a shop!
People from outside of London may not consider this job because staying in London is so expensive. I was fortunate enough to stay with some lovely family friends for the fortnight, however, I had looked at getting an Airbnb with someone else working the Championships and between the two of us we would have still walked away with some great savings whilst having had a fortnight living in London and making some amazing memories. For my training days before the Championships, I booked a place through Hostelworld which cost me £17 a night for a bed in a nine bed dorm. When I walked in I saw Wimbledon uniform hanging up and it turned out someone was staying there who was working the qualifiers and the Championship fortnight. So, even if you are not from London, you really can still apply for this job!
Now, one London expense I had not factored in when considering what I would make from this job was the cost of nights out in Wimbledon Village! Of course if you are only looking to make money during the summer you can skip the rest of this paragraph, however, I knew I was also there for the experience as a whole and so made the most of my fortnight. My team worked the later shift and so we would often finish at around 9pm and, as our team got on so well, we occasionally would walk just 15 minutes into the village and end the day with a pint…or two. However, it was easy to spend an hour or two’s wages with local costs ramped up during the fortnight. On our first night one girl from my team ordered a gin and tonic and was rather shocked to be handed a card reader requesting £14.95! Of course this didn’t happen every day and in my opinion was a great addition to the whole experience as there was an amazing buzz throughout the village. On the final day, I walked with my team through the village being applauded as we were mistaken for ballgirls and boys and we loved every mistaken moment of it!
Some of my highlights from working at Wimbledon consist of seeing Nadal and Berrettini practising on an outside court during one of my training days (which will definitely be the closest I ever get to seeing them play!), watching amazing tennis on the outside courts every single day of the Championships, and having two amazing weeks in London with my lovely team. My sister was lucky enough to actually ballgirl for Emma Raducanu before she became famous and simply messaged us that evening saying there was a promising young Brit in the qualifiers aha! Whilst London is expensive, if you do not live in London but are a massive tennis fan and would love the experience I would definitely encourage you to look at hostels and even AirBnb if you and some friends all manage to get jobs. It was an experience of a lifetime and I look forward to working there again this summer!
Disclaimer: this is not an ad and is in no way endorsed by Wimbledon; this is just a tennis fan wanting more people to realise this great job exists!