This course uses a top-down approach to recognize knowledge and skills already known, and to surface information and skill areas for additional preparation. You can use this course to help create your own custom preparation plan. It helps you distinguish what you know from what you don't know. And it helps you develop and practice skills required of practitioners who perform this job.

The course follows the organization of the Exam Guide outline, presenting highest-level concepts, ‘touchstones’, for you to determine whether you feel confident about your knowledge of that area and its dependent concepts, or if you want more study. You also will learn about and have the opportunity to practice key job skills, including cognitive skills such as case analysis, identifying technical watchpoints, and developing proposed solutions. These are job skills that are also exam skills. You will also test your basic abilities with Activity Tracking Challenge Labs. And you will have many sample questions similar to those on the exam, including solutions. The end of the course contains an ungraded practice exam quiz, followed by a graded practice exam quiz that simulates the exam-taking experience.