Finally passed my CIAM exam after two attempts — what actually worked

So I finally got my CIAM certification last week and I'm still kind of in disbelief. Failed my first attempt back in February by 12 points — I'd been mostly reading through the official ISACA materials and figured that'd be enough. It wasn't. The real exam hits you with scenario-based questions that are way more nuanced than just memorizing definitions.

What turned things around for me was switching to a solid CIAM practice test routine about six weeks out. Doing timed question sets helped me spot where I was actually weak — turns out my identity governance and access lifecycle knowledge was embarrassingly shallow. I built a proper study guide around those gaps and spent the last two weeks drilling those specific domains daily.

For anyone currently prepping, the access management and authentication protocol sections carry a lot of weight. Don't underestimate the policy/compliance angle either — there were more questions about IAM program governance than I expected. Happy to share my topic breakdown if anyone wants it. What resources are you all using?