Finally passed my SCC exam after two failed attempts — here's what worked

I'm not going to sugarcoat it — I bombed my first two SCC attempts pretty badly. The first time I went in kind of blind, figured my work experience would carry me through. Scored a 68, needed a 75. Second attempt I bought a cheap study guide off Amazon that was clearly outdated and barely moved the needle. Ended up with a 71. I was seriously considering giving up on the whole certification.

What finally turned things around was getting serious about targeted practice. I started using an SCC practice test site that actually broke questions down by domain — compliance frameworks, risk assessment, that kind of thing. Doing timed sections instead of just reading material made a huge difference in how I retained concepts. I spent about 6-7 weeks, roughly 45 minutes a day, before my third attempt.

Passed with an 82 last Thursday. If you're studying for this thing, I'd genuinely recommend leaning hard on practice questions over passive reading. Anyone else have tips on the operational security sections specifically? Those still felt shaky even though I passed.