How to get hired
"IT support" covers four first jobs. All of them hire freshers, all of them involve shifts, and the one you pick decides which way you grow.
The four entry jobs
- Service desk (L1). You take calls, chats and tickets from employees of a client company: password resets, Outlook not syncing, VPN not connecting, laptop slow. Large IT services firms and managed-services companies hire in batches, often with an English communication test. Some desks need a second language for overseas clients.
- Desktop support engineer. On-site at an office or campus, imaging laptops, fixing printers, setting up new joiners, managing assets. More hands-on, less phone time.
- Field engineer. Travel between client sites for hardware repair, ATM and POS servicing, CCTV and network installation. Mostly hired through vendors and staffing firms; diploma and ITI holders get in here.
- NOC technician. Watching dashboards of network devices and servers, raising alerts, following runbooks. The natural first step towards networking; our network engineer guide picks up from there.
Early-career programmes for 12th pass
HCLTech's TechBee programme takes Class 12 pass students (Maths is usually required and there is a marks cut-off) into training and then IT jobs, including support roles, with an option to study for a degree while working. Check the current eligibility on the registration site and get the stipend, bond and degree details in writing before you sign.
What interviews and tests check
- Troubleshooting out loud. "A user says the internet is not working." They want you to ask questions in order: one user or everyone, wired or Wi-Fi, can they reach an internal site, what does ipconfig show, is there an IP from DHCP, can they ping the gateway, does DNS resolve.
- Windows basics. Joining a PC to a domain, resetting a password in Active Directory, mapping a network drive, checking Event Viewer, safe mode, what a blue screen code tells you.
- Office 365 and email. Outlook profiles, mailbox full, shared mailbox access, Teams issues.
- Ticketing and ITIL language. Incident versus service request versus problem, priority and SLA, when to escalate to L2. Many desks use ServiceNow; if you know the vocabulary you sound trained.
- Communication. A mock call with an annoyed user. Clear, polite, no jargon, confirm the fix before closing.
Certifications that help
- CompTIA A+ (exams 220-1201 and 220-1202) is the classic hardware and OS certificate for support.
- ITIL 4 Foundation (PeopleCert) is asked for in many service desk and service management roles.
- CompTIA Network+ or Cisco CCNA if you want to move to networking.
- Microsoft 365 or Azure fundamentals for desks supporting cloud tools.
You don't need all of them. One certificate plus the ability to troubleshoot out loud gets most freshers through.
Documents
Degree or diploma marksheets, Aadhaar, PAN, a bank account, and for vendor and staffing jobs, check that PF and ESI are deducted and the agency's name is on your offer and payslip. Our article on contract jobs through agencies explains what to check.
First titles
Service Desk Analyst, Technical Support Engineer L1, Desktop Support Engineer, IT Support Executive, Field Service Engineer, NOC Technician, IT Helpdesk Executive.
Shifts, tickets and the ladder
Support runs 24x7 for most clients, so expect rotational shifts including nights and weekends in the first year or two. Desks measure everything: tickets closed, first-call resolution, SLA breaches, customer satisfaction scores.
The ladder is L1, L2, L3 or SME, then Team Lead, Track Lead and IT Manager. Pay at L1 is modest, and the real jump comes when you specialise: networks, Windows and Linux servers, Microsoft 365 administration, cloud, or security operations. People who study for one certification a year while on the desk usually move out of L1 within two years.