IT support practice
An IT support simulator for Tier 1 work
Tier 1 is where a lot of people start in IT support. Someone can't log in. A printer jams again. The VPN works at home but not at the hotel. A manager wants a new hire set up by lunch. This simulator puts those tickets in front of you. You read the user's message, pick what you'd do, and see what your choice would fix or break.
The first 25 tickets cost nothing. You don't need an account, and there's nothing to install.
What you practice here
A Tier 1 queue mixes three kinds of work. Some things are broken. Some are requests. Others look routine but aren't, like a password reset for a caller you can't verify. The fix itself is often a few clicks. The hard part is deciding what to check first, what to say to the person, and when the ticket isn't yours to fix.
The questions are grouped into ten areas:
- Accounts and identity: password resets, lockouts, MFA, and the account of someone who just left
- Endpoints and hardware: a laptop that dies before a presentation, a dead second monitor, a lost device
- Network and remote access: VPN that fails for one person, slow Wi-Fi, a room where video calls keep dropping
- Software, SaaS and permissions: admin rights, license seats, access to a finance share
- Email and collaboration: shared mailboxes, calendars, files people can't open
- Security incidents: phishing reports, a USB stick from the parking lot, a caller who sounds a bit too sure
- ITIL and ticket process: priority, incident vs request, what to write before you close
- Customer communication: the third complaint this week, the executive who wants it today
- Escalation and ownership: when to hand off, who gets it, and what to put in the note
- Employer context: the same kind of problem at an MSP, an internal IT team, a SaaS support desk, a school, or a clinic
The 25 free tickets are filed under the first four areas, though plenty of them are security calls in disguise (the USB stick from the parking lot sits under hardware). Pro covers all ten.
What the feedback teaches
Each ticket has one best response and three that real people pick when they're rushed: skipping a check, escalating too early, or fixing the symptom and moving on. Whichever you choose, the feedback tells you what the ticket is testing, what a strong answer looks like, why the common wrong picks lose, and a line or two you could say to the user. That last part is easy to overlook and matters on a real desk, because a correct fix delivered badly still ends in a complaint.
There's no timer, and progress stays in your browser. If you'd rather work all 25 back to back with a score, the scored shift ends with a report on each skill.
The four skills behind the score
Each free ticket is tagged with one of the four skills the feedback scores. Security: confirm who's asking before you change a password or grant access. Empathy: acknowledge the problem before you start fixing it. Escalation: spot when twenty tickets are really one incident, and hand off with what you already tried. Troubleshooting: get the person working again, then look for the cause, then write it down.
What it doesn't do
There's no remote desktop here, no command line, and no Active Directory console. You won't type ipconfig. This is the decision side of the job: what to do, in what order, and what to tell the user. For the hands-on side you'll want a home lab as well; our free training plan covers that. The lab teaches you how to reset a password, and the simulator teaches you when not to.
Who it's for
- People moving into IT from another job who want reps before applying.
- Students working through CompTIA A+ or a similar course who want the judgment part the exam questions don't cover. (We're not affiliated with CompTIA.)
- New hires with a start date coming up.
- Anyone with a help desk interview soon. Scenario questions come up in a lot of help desk interviews, and our interview question guide covers how they're phrased.
It's practice, not a credential. It won't land you a job on its own, and the tickets are fictional. What it can do is make your first move on a real ticket feel familiar.
Free and Pro
Free gets you the 25 ticket questions and a short diagnostic. Pro adds 475 questions in five formats, practice packs for six employer types, practice runs that end in a report, a wrong-answer book, and a PDF report you can keep. Pro is $20 a month, $108 for 6 months (about $18 a month), or $192 a year (about $16 a month). Details are on Pricing.
Quick answers
Is this the same as a hands-on lab?
No. You choose responses rather than operate a simulated computer. It's quicker to start and focused on judgment. Use a lab for the technical steps.
How long does it take?
A ticket takes a minute or two if you read the feedback. You can stop after one and pick up later in the same browser.
Do I need to know anything first?
No. The tickets range from Tier 1 basics to harder judgment calls, and the feedback explains each one.