Here's an outline of my journey
1st tournament - Wimbledon 2004. Bow Brand who found out that I was an MRT asked me to string there. Been there ever since, now Head Stringer since 2014. At the time I was working a regular office job.
2nd tournament - Eastbourne 2009. Wasn't asked back(?); but then asked to work Birmingham, UK; however couldn't due to my regular job.
3rd tournament, and onwards - made redundant and in 2011 become part of Babolat UK Stringing team covering futures, ATP/WTA tournaments in UK; plus started working at Roland Garros.
Currently I work only as a stringer, but have several strings to my job (pun intended). Most of my income comes from tournament stringing. I cover tournaments from regional to futures to ATP/WTA to Grand Slams. Last year I worked at 3 regional, 4 futures, 3 ATP/WTA & Wimbledon in the UK; 2 Masters and 1 GS outside of UK. I now have a small pro shop at a club, I'm the UK manager for ERSA and run stringing courses.
People ask how to become a tournament stringer, or how to get on the ladder. Firstly, you need to be good and willing to learn more. You need to be known to the stringing world. Start working front desk, getting used to the tournament scene. Reputation is also important. Don't p!ss people off, otherwise you wont be back.
When I first did Wimbledon, I thought I was good; and I was for regular customers. But for Pro's its a different story. It becomes another learning ground. Shop stringers can be awestruck when going into this atmosphere. You need to prove yourself.
But, I think WImbledon isn't that hard as stringers only string. If I do a futures on my own, I'm doing everything; cutting strings, stencils, taking in, chasing money, and stringing. Thats harder if you've not done it before. I learnt a lot from Wimbledon that helped.
Another Q people as me is "how do I get to string at Wimbledon?" Truth is, its hard, and it only comes once a year. It's a bit dead man's shoes in that you need to wait until someone leaves before a spot can open up. We try and keep the team as stable as possible. It helps in those times of high stress; and we know how people work. But as players are getting more and more rqts strung, we need more stringers; so an expanding team opens up a couple more spots.
Regards
Paul