TCM Security’s Practical Help Desk Associate (PHDA) certification is a unique beginner-level exam that tests students’ ability to excel in entry-level IT roles like the help desk. The exam requires test takers to resolve support tickets in a ticketing system and business environment and then write knowledge base documentation on the tasks they completed. Instead of answering multiple-choice questions, test takers are placed into a “day in the life of a help desk associate,” where they are challenged by real-life scenarios and tickets that they must not only resolve but respond to in a professional manner.
The training material is excellent preparation not only for the exam, but also for the day-to-day duties of someone getting started in a help desk position. As the creator of the certification, I’m here to give you the inside scoop and a few helpful tips.
PHDA Exam Environment
Like all TCM Security exams, the PHDA is designed to test the real-world application of skills taught in the course and used on the job. We strive to provide an experience similar to what employees would do in a work environment. As such, there are no multiple-choice questions on this exam since that is not what help desk professionals face in real life.
To access the exam environment, students are given a VPN connection, which allows them to remotely connect to a jumpbox computer via their browser (which is already a good skill to learn). From there, students have access to a ticketing portal, which has 8 tickets assigned to them. In addition, students are also provided with access to the company’s internal knowledge base portal, which contains all of the details about procedures, policy, and software they require to succeed. From the jumpbox computer, students are able to remotely connect to the rest of the hosts in the network, which include Linux and Windows computers in an Active Directory environment.
How the PHDA is Graded
There are three factors used to grade the PHDA exam. The first is whether the technical requirements for tickets are completed successfully. For example, if a ticket were to ask a student to set a static IP address on one of the hosts, the environment will be checked at the end of the exam to ensure this task was completed as per the ticket. The second is how students handle and respond to each of the tickets. This includes any comments they leave and the state the ticket is left in, such as closed, open, or reassigned. The final factor is the report submitted at the end of the exam.
The report consists of two items for each ticket. The first is a screenshot of the final state of the ticket, allowing test markers to easily view the comments and ticket status. The second is a knowledge base article on how to complete the tasks outlined in the tickets. The knowledge base article should contain enough information for a person with moderate computer skills to retrace the steps taken to complete the ticket.
The exam guide document, which is provided at the beginning of the exam, contains a report template and a sample knowledge base document that demonstrates the level of detail required. Points are allotted for each of the above factors, and students must meet a minimum score to pass the exam.
Study Tips for Preparing for the PHDA Exam
As with all TCM Security certifications, everything you need to know to pass the exam is included in the course material, which in this case is the Practical Help Desk course (if you haven’t yet checked it out, the course is entirely free on the TCM Security Free Tier). Understanding the course material is essential for this exam, which tests exam takers specifically on the tasks they are shown to perform in the course.
My biggest suggestion for anyone taking this exam is to perform all of the hands-on labs and portions of the course yourself. Don’t just watch the video, but build out the labs and do all of the tasks, ensuring you understand the steps and how to perform them. In particular, pay close attention to the “Ticket Interrupt” lessons in the course, as these very closely represent the format of the exam and how tasks will be presented to test takers in examples of real-world tickets and scenarios.
I also strongly suggest taking good notes while completing the course and the hands-on sections, so that you can quickly refer back to them during the exam. Like other TCM exams, the PHDA exam is entirely open book. You can use materials such as your notes, Google, or even the course itself. However, keep in mind the exam is 8 hours long and the course is 17 hours of content. Having detailed notes that you created and understand will help you quickly and easily find the steps or details you require while in the exam environment.
Examination Tips
My first tip, which in my opinion is the most important thing you can do while in the exam, is to carefully read both the exam guide and each of the tickets. There are no trick questions or trick details, however, the exam guide includes very useful information for how to properly complete the exam and access the required resources in the environment. The tickets themselves are written as you will encounter them from both technical and non-technical folks. Some of the tickets will have multiple technical steps or requirements to properly complete the task.
The biggest mistake I have seen when marking exams is that students didn’t read the entire ticket and did not complete all the tasks. An example of this would be if the ticket asked to grant a user permission to a specific shared folder and also to map that folder to a network drive for them. Giving the user the permissions but not mapping the network drive would result in the technical work for the ticket being incomplete and not receiving any points.
My second tip is to take lots of screenshots and work on each of the knowledge base articles in the report as you complete each ticket. The PHDA exam is unique from most other TCM exams in that the time allotted for the exam (8 hours) is for both access to the environment and writing the report. There is no additional time at the end of the exam, and test takers must submit their report before the 8 hours expire. By writing the knowledge base articles while working on each of the tickets, you can simply document the steps you took and provide screenshots while it’s fresh in your mind.
If you’re looking for a good option for taking and editing screenshots, I suggest checking out Greenshot, and if you’re on Windows, it’s entirely free! If you’re unsure of what your knowledge base article should look like, don’t forget to check out the report template and sample report included in the marking guide.
My third tip, which is really simple, is to make sure you include the screenshot of your ticket in its final form, showing the state it’s in and any comments in the report. This is done to make it easier for the markers reviewing your report to assign marks based on how you handle each ticket. If you don’t include it, they can’t mark it.
My fourth tip is to take some breaks and take care of yourself. Make sure you’re eating and staying hydrated, and don’t be afraid to get up from your computer, take a walk, or do something to take your mind off the exam for a bit, especially if you’re stuck on a ticket and not sure what to do.
Conclusion
As a quick summary, here are my main tips for preparing for and passing the PHDA exam.
- Make sure you understand and have practiced the methodology taught in the included coursework, especially completing the actual steps on your own rather than just watching along.
- Thoroughly read the Exam Guide and each of the tickets. There are lots of very useful details and instructions included in the exam guide, and the most common mistake we see is not reading the tickets fully.
- When writing your report, make sure you include a screenshot of the ticket in its final form and a knowledge base article with screenshots.
Purchase the Practical Help Desk Associate exam voucher today! The voucher includes one free retake and lifetime access to the training for the exam.
About the Author: Andrew Bellini
My name is Andrew Bellini and I sometimes go as DigitalAndrew on social media. I’m an electrical engineer by trade with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and am a licensed Professional Engineer (P. Eng) in Ontario, Canada. While my background and the majority of my career has been in electrical engineering, I am also an avid and passionate ethical hacker.
I am the instructor of our Beginner’s Guide to IoT and Hardware Hacking, Practical Help Desk, and Assembly 101 courses and I also created the Practical IoT Pentest Associate (PIPA) and Practical Help Desk Associate (PHDA) certifications.
In addition to my love for all things ethical hacking, cybersecurity, CTFs and tech I also am a dad, play guitar and am passionate about the outdoors and fishing.
About TCM Security
TCM Security is a veteran-owned, cybersecurity services and education company founded in Charlotte, NC. Our services division has the mission of protecting people, sensitive data, and systems. With decades of combined experience, thousands of hours of practice, and core values from our time in service, we use our skill set to secure your environment. The TCM Security Academy is an educational platform dedicated to providing affordable, top-notch cybersecurity training to our individual students and corporate clients including both self-paced and instructor-led online courses as well as custom training solutions. We also provide several vendor-agnostic, practical hands-on certification exams to ensure proven job-ready skills to prospective employers.
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