N80 Jamie Hi.
He had fired off applications straight away after completing MEP/IR/MCC. A training environment should equip the candidate for success, and the withholding of NDB work will stump many pilots at the sim stage or indeed interview stage when the interviewing management pilots ask where your training was conducted. He had never even seen a DME arc.
Contrary to popular belief, many operators value and indeed still use NDB approaches, including holding. If applying for a UK position, one would be expected to demonstrate NDB work in a sim check.
And yes, NDB work should most certainly be part of an IR test in my opinion as a humble ex RAF QFI and Hawker series TRE.