Is the CPA exam harder than actual work or the other way around? I’m a new big 4 employee and I feel like I don’t understand anything. Is this normal? Why do I feel like a dumass?

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Different aspects of mental ability. You only start to understand work through experience.

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What exactly is making you feel like a dumbass? Is it the impressive credentials of some of the more senior people in your office? Or is it they way that those around you on a day-to-day basis treat and communicate with you (whether directly or indirectly)?

Correct, there is absolutely a learning curve in everything. The problem with PA is that many don't truly have an opportunity to learn.

You are not looking at it correctly.
CPA credential has no bearing to the complexities of the actual work. Just because you have passed the exam doesn’t mean you’d know everything at work. A lot of the skills at work come from experience. So if you are comparing yourself to someone with more experience you will be disappointed every time, especially at this early career level.

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