{"id":3343,"date":"2025-04-03T19:14:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T19:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/?p=3343"},"modified":"2025-04-05T15:14:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T15:14:43","slug":"tcm-security-practical-help-desk-associate-exam-review-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/?p=3343","title":{"rendered":"TCM Security Practical Help Desk Associate Exam Review (2025)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I may or may not have mentioned this before, but if there were an organizational hierarchy to being &#8220;against the grain,&#8221; I&#8217;d be the CEO.&nbsp; I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time going one step forward, two steps back, but fortunately, I&#8217;m a resilient (and stubborn) person who refuses to give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There have been plenty of setbacks in my IT career.&nbsp; Right now, I&#8217;m not even sure I&#8217;ll survive this spring &#8217;25 semester.&nbsp; If I fail, I won&#8217;t be able to use my VA benefits at my current school come fall.&nbsp; So, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, I decided to take a few days off from school during spring break to focus on something else.&nbsp; Again: against the grain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I enrolled in the free Practical Help Desk course offered by TCM Security because they had just released the Practical Help Desk Associate certification exam.&nbsp; Even though my original plan wasn&#8217;t to start in a help desk role, it&#8217;s looking like I may need to scale back on my ambitious goals and consider that as a starting point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also needed this cert to rebuild my confidence and keep pushing forward.&nbsp; I&#8217;m not sure how else to explain it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, I took the exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s my honest review of the course and the exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcm_image-1024x676.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcm_image-1024x676.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/reynet255.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcm_image-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/reynet255.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcm_image-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\/\/reynet255.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tcm_image.jpg 1041w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">TCM Security<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me start by talking about TCM Security and how I came across them.&nbsp; TCM Security is a veteran-owned cybersecurity company focused on providing top-tier penetration testing, security training, and compliance services.&nbsp; The CEO is Heath Adams AKA &#8220;The Cyber Mentor&#8221; and the entire brand has a real-world, no-fluff energy that instantly stood out to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t remember the exact date, but it was sometime in 2021 or 2022 when I came across one of Heath&#8217;s videos on OSINT (Open Source Intelligence).\u00a0 That video pulled me straight down the TCM rabbit hole.\u00a0 I started watching more of their [TCM] content and even took a few of their beginner-friendly courses.\u00a0 What stuck with me was how accessible and authentic it all felt.\u00a0 Not just high-level theory, but practical, hands-on knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the Course and Exam Cover<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Practical Help Desk course<\/strong> from TCM Security is designed to prepare you for the kind of real-world work you\u2019d do in an entry-level IT support or help desk role. It&#8217;s beginner-friendly, but still hands-on enough to make you feel like you&#8217;re doing more than just clicking through a slideshow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The course walks you through foundational IT skills like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Active Directory user and group management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Password resets<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group Policy Objects (GPOs)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>File\/folder permissions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Basic Linux command-line operations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scripting (shoutout to cron)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>RDP, file shares, and general troubleshooting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>After completing the course, you have the option to take the <strong>Practical Help Desk Associate certification exam<\/strong> \u2014 and this is where it gets interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things I really respected about the <strong>Practical Help Desk Associate exam<\/strong> is how it simulates a <strong>real help desk shift<\/strong>.  You\u2019re given <strong>8 hours<\/strong> to complete it, which is basically a full workday \u2014 and yeah, it <em>feels<\/em> like one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the exam starts, you\u2019re dropped into a ticketing system (called <strong>Peppermint<\/strong>) and immediately presented with <strong>help desk tickets<\/strong>.  No hand-holding.  No checklist.  Just problems \u2014 and it\u2019s your job to solve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some tickets are quick and straightforward (like resetting an AD password), while others require more research and hands-on work (like editing a Linux script or configuring a GPO).  There\u2019s even a high-priority ticket mixed in, simulating the need to triage and prioritize \u2014 just like in a real IT support role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each task you complete has to be documented in the form of a <strong>Knowledge Base (KB) article<\/strong>.  That\u2019s where you show your work: What was the issue? What steps did you take? What was the resolution? This part of the exam really emphasizes <strong>clear communication and documentation<\/strong> \u2014 skills that are just as important as the technical side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, the exam isn\u2019t rushed \u2014 you have plenty of time if you manage it wisely.  But it does keep you on your toes.  You feel like you\u2019re actually on a shift, juggling tickets, solving problems, and writing up solutions for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My Experience Taking the Exam<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me just say this: <strong>it felt real<\/strong>.  From the moment I logged into the jumpbox and opened the Peppermint ticketing system, I was fully immersed.  It wasn\u2019t just \u201ccomplete this task\u201d \u2014 it was \u201cyou\u2019re on the clock, solve these problems like you would on the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I started by scanning through all my tickets to see what I was working with.  One of them was marked <strong>[High Priority]<\/strong> and came from an external source, so that instantly grabbed my attention.  That moment set the tone \u2014 this wasn\u2019t just a lab, it was a <strong>simulation of real-life help desk pressure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the tickets were familiar ground \u2014 like resetting an Active Directory password or creating a new user and assigning them to groups.  But others made me slow down, think critically, and double-check my work.  For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Writing a <strong>cron job<\/strong> to run a login script as root<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Creating <strong>GPOs to lock desktop backgrounds<\/strong> and applying them to a specific OU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Diagnosing a <strong>hardware failure using beep codes<\/strong> on a Dell system<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Following internal policy to install Chrome <strong>only<\/strong> from an approved network share<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The coolest part?  It wasn\u2019t just about solving the technical issue \u2014 it was about explaining it clearly.  After resolving each ticket, I had to write a <strong>KB article<\/strong> describing the issue, the environment, the steps I took, and how I fixed it.  That\u2019s when I realized how important documentation is in this field.\u00a0 Trust me, I&#8217;m no stranger to documenting steps and procedures.\u00a0 I have 14 years of military experience for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were moments where I got stuck, had to slow down, and troubleshoot like I would in the real world.  But I kept moving, ticket by ticket, knocking them out.  And when I got to that final task \u2014 and confirmed everything was done \u2014 I felt legit proud.  Not just because I passed, but because I proved to myself that <strong>I can do this<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts and Recommendation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for a certification that actually tests your <strong>ability to do the job<\/strong> \u2014 not just memorize answers \u2014 the <strong>Practical Help Desk Associate<\/strong> exam from TCM Security is 100% worth your time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s beginner-friendly but far from watered down.  It forces you to think critically, prioritize tasks, follow internal policy, and document your work \u2014 everything a real help desk technician has to do.  The fact that it\u2019s hands-on and wrapped in a simulated 8-hour shift makes it one of the most <strong>realistic entry-level IT certifications<\/strong> I\u2019ve ever come across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, this wasn\u2019t just about checking a box or padding my resume.  This exam was a way to <strong>get back in the game<\/strong>, to prove to myself that I still have what it takes \u2014 even if the path looks different than I originally planned. And I\u2019m glad I took that step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re a veteran transitioning into IT, a student trying to break in, or someone who just wants to build real skills and confidence \u2014 I can\u2019t recommend this course and exam enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I may or may not have mentioned this before, but if there were an organizational hierarchy to being &#8220;against the grain,&#8221; I&#8217;d be the CEO.&nbsp; I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time going one step forward, two steps back, but fortunately, I&#8217;m a resilient (and stubborn) person who refuses to give up. There have been plenty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[16,17,15],"class_list":["post-3343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-help-desk","tag-information-technology","tag-learning"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3343"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3349,"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3343\/revisions\/3349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reynet255.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}