We caught up with Angel David, Tech Industry Gold student at Queen Mary University London who was successfully selected for a summer placement at The Wimbledon Championships, where IBM provides digital platforms across desktop and mobile, engaging fans around the world through an interactive experience.
It was great to hear about Angels experience, the selection process and the celebrities he saw on the grounds.
Did you enjoy your placement with IBM at Wimbledon?
Yes, it was amazing, I really liked it and it was such a good experience.
How did you find out about this placement opportunity?
I got an email from my university’s careers office informing me about this opportunity at Wimbledon and the placement with IBM. The email had a link to the TechSkills website where I found out more about it.
What did you think when you saw this opportunity?
I liked it because it could give me more experience in my field. Working at Wimbledon and being around IBM workers and all those in my field, I thought that I could learn lots from them.
How did you find the selection process?
I applied and after a month I got a response. First of all, I thought I did not get it but then I got an email from TechSkills and was invited to an interview. The interview itself I thought went well.
Can you describe a typical day at Wimbledon for me?
We arrived at 8:30. To start the day we needed to make sure that the whole schedule for the entry team was made. This usually takes 2 hours. After this we had an hour of free time before more tasks would appear during the day such as helping people and greeting IBM’s guests. They had a game there, a reaction one which we would explain how that worked. There were minor IT related tasks to help with for example if someone had a problem with a screen or printer.
What did you do in your free time?
In my free time we had the opportunity to go around the site and watch the outside courts. Sometimes we were given tickets to centre court or court one where the big games are.
What would you recommend to future students applying for this placement and how they should prepare for it?
First of all, I would recommend researching a little bit about IBM technologies that are used at Wimbledon, I think that would be helpful during the interview. Also, research IBM because sometimes we had to explain to people who came to the IBM kiosk about IBM technologies and what IBM does.
Confidence is another aspect which is really important during the interview. I would say do not be afraid about saying anything wrong or thinking it will not be a good answer. Show the interviewers and recruiters that you are really interested in the role and that you are going to put the work in when you are there.
What has this placement taught you?
As I am in my first year at university going into my second year I found out while I was there about the IBM one year internship which I am probably going to apply for.
There were also some projects in other programming languages like Python, which I did not have that much knowledge on before but learnt about. Its great seeing how thinks work in an office and how things are run and how the company runs the whole tournament and how they operate.
Did you get to meet any celebrities, and did you consume strawberries and cream?
Yes, I tried strawberries and cream, they are quite good.
But celebrities, I saw mostly tennis players such as Novak Djokovic, Nadal, and Emma Raducanu. We are not allowed to approach them. All these tennis players were just walking around the side so you could just walk past Nadal or Djokovic, but you have to remember to keep your cool. There were also some big news reporters which are popular in tennis but I do not watch the news here in the UK so I did not recognise them, if I was a native here I probably would.
Were there any standout moments for you during your time at Wimbledon?
One of the best moments was on our first day, our trojan team, there were four of us, 2 IBM employees and previous Trojan teammates from 2/3 years ago. We met and during a full tournament we became really good friends. Its one of the memories I will remember.
If you had to pick 3 words to describe your experience, what would they be?
Cognitive, Captivating and Innovative
Do you have any final comments?
Thank you for giving me this opportunity
