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Kristiyana Kaneva: Does Starting a New Job Feel Like Going Through the Five Stages of Grief?
May 8, 2025, 17:38

Kristiyana Kaneva: Does Starting a New Job Feel Like Going Through the Five Stages of Grief?

Kristiyana Kaneva, Medical Director at AbbVie, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Is it just me or does starting a new job feel like going through the five stages of grief?
Denial: You think this will be the best new job ever. The work will be highly meaningful. You will be exceeding KPIs daily. Work-life balance, unparalleled. Office culture, fully aligned with your values. Work besties for life.
Anger: Everyone treats you like you are less because you don’t know that Bob *always* wears a red cardigan on Thursdays (obviously). You are trusted with doing less than an infant. You are so far on the left of the bell shaped curve of job satisfaction that one wrong move will get you falling off the cliff into corporate abyss.
Bargaining: You try to take on more responsibilities. Demonstrate value. Help colleagues. Improve processes. You are an infant, but a mighty one. Think Jack-Jack from The Incredibles.
Depression: You reminisce of the good old times at your previous job because the grass is always greener (even when you have seen it wilt away). You picture yourself as an emo teenager as the melancholy sets in (not an infant).
Acceptance: You calm your body down, draw on decades of resilience you have built through your professional and personal life, and take a deep breath. You realize that these growing pains too shall pass, just like a kidney stone (which you have also experienced).
P.S. I love my job. AbbVie is a fantastic company. Change is hard. I have made it to the Acceptance stage!”

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