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In instances where an employee sees it coming, it can be easy to wonder if action can be taken to prevent it from happening. Here are a few things you can do if you fear termination of employment is in your immediate future.

Don’t assume

Before you start desperately scrambling to save your job, take time to figure out what brought this fear on in the first place. Are you listening to rumors or is it just a general feeling in the air? Unless you’re absolutely certain your job is in jeopardy, don’t approach your employer or initiate any fact-finding missions with your co-workers.
Instead, spend your energy working as hard as you can to do the best job possible. If you’re concerned about your performance, speak to your supervisor about what you can do to improve without mentioning your fear of being fired. You’ll likely gain valuable feedback that you can put to use.

Change your behavior

Of course, the best thing you can do is change the behavior that might lead to the end of your employment. Do you perpetually miss deadlines or turn in substandard work? Is your negative attitude impacting the employees around you?
Take time to determine the behaviors that are putting your job in jeopardy and do everything you can to prove to your employers you’ve changed. Pay close attention to your business’s superstar employees and ask for their advice. You’ll likely find your coworkers are more than happy to help a struggling team member, especially if you phrase it in a way that indicates you look up to them.

Clean up

When it becomes fairly clear your days are numbered, go through your work-issued devices and remove any personal information. Clean up your email inbox, as well. Your employer likely will lock your accounts on the day of your termination, so if you have any personal information you need, save it and take it home.
Begin discreetly taking home personal items like knickknacks and family photos, since you’ll likely be asked to box everything up in mere minutes before being escorted from the building. Try not to make your clean-up effort obvious to avoid alerting coworkers and supervisors to the fact that you’re preparing for a speedy exit.

Stay classy

No matter what happens, remain professional and classy at all times. The coworkers who watch your exit today could be the very people who help you later in your career.
Aside from maintaining your reputation, being professional is much more likely to lead your employer to think he might have made a mistake than being unprofessional, which only confirms the wisdom of the termination. Even after you’ve put the termination behind you, refrain from maligning your former employer in any way. This only reflects poorly on you.
A termination can be grueling, but if you take the right steps, you may be able to avoid it. If you can’t avoid it, you should still take measures to make the process as painless as possible.
Being fired can actually open the door to opportunities you never would have had otherwise, leading you to your next big challenge.
John Boitnott is a journalist and digital consultant who has worked in TV, newspapers, radio and internet companies in the U.S. for 20 years. He's an advisor at StartupGrind and has written for NBC, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, USAToday, and VentureBeat, among others.