Nikhil
Secured 2nd Line IT Support role
“I genuinely thought my experience would speak for itself. It took Newto Training to show me that in the UK, you have to prove it their way first, not mine, and that…”
Background
Nikhil moved to the UK from Pune on a sponsored Skilled Worker visa, holding a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from India. He had a strong academic record and general work experience. He hoped his degree and transferable skills would be enough to get him started in the UK job market. Instead, he spent months applying for a wide range of roles without a single interview.
The Challenge
Despite being capable and motivated, Nikhil ran into barriers that are common for overseas graduates arriving in the UK without a technical qualification or UK work history:
- A generalist business degree didn’t map clearly onto any specific UK job market. Without a defined specialism, his CV wasn’t a strong match for the roles he was applying to, and he struggled to know which sector to target.
- UK recruiters and hiring managers repeatedly asked for “UK-based experience”, something his time in India, however relevant, couldn’t answer on its own.
- With no recognised UK certifications on his CV, he wasn’t clearing first-stage filters for the more structured, entry-level roles he was applying for.
Nikhil was, understandably, unsure where to pivot. A business administration degree could theoretically lead in several directions, but that breadth was making it harder to build a focused, convincing application.
Our Support
Nikhil came to Newto Training to work out a realistic route into UK employment. We talked through how IT support offers a well-defined, in-demand entry point for candidates with a generalist degree background, and used that to help him build a focused plan rather than continuing to apply broadly.
He completed our IT Helpdesk Technician career programme, gaining two certifications:
- CompTIA A+, the foundational, vendor-neutral certification UK employers consistently ask for in service desk and 1st/2nd line job postings
- Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900), reflecting how many UK organisations now run their support desks around Microsoft 365 and Azure, and giving him a recognised technical grounding to sit alongside his degree
How we helped:
- Fully rebuilt his CV, reframing his business administration degree and prior office experience as genuine assets for a support role, particularly around communication, process and stakeholder handling, rather than a gap to explain away
- Worked with him on a targeted job search strategy, helping him identify and apply for realistic 2nd line and service desk roles rather than continuing to spread applications across unrelated sectors
- Prepared him for the interviews that followed, including how to talk about his career change with confidence
The Outcome
Nikhil’s rebuilt CV and applications started converting into interviews, and with interview coaching behind him, he secured a role as a 2nd Line IT Support Agent in June 2026, his first UK-based role.
He’s now building UK experience and technical skills on solid ground, with a clear route into IT ahead of him.
Nikhil's Advice
“I genuinely thought my experience would speak for itself. It took Newto Training to show me that in the UK, you have to prove it their way first, not mine, and that starting again in a new country is possible. The CV rebuild changed how I talked about my own background completely, and the interview prep meant I was able to talk about my move from business into IT support with confidence. I know this is the first step, not the last one.”
Could the next story be yours?
Browse our career programmes and start your journey into a new industry.
