🕵️♀️ What to Do Before You're Let Go
Prepare for When DOGE Comes for Your Job or Your Role Gets Eliminated
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If you work in a federal agency and feel the tension rising, you’re not being paranoid. DOGE’s agenda is real—and it’s spreading fast. But there are steps you can take now to prepare, protect yourself, and stay ahead.
Sections:
⚠️ Know the Warning Signs
Look out for vague performance reviews, unexpected schedule changes, or being left off meeting invites
Language like "efficiency realignment," "streamlining operations," or "non-essential roles" often foreshadows cuts
Sudden changes in reporting structure or reassignment to ambiguous duties can indicate targeting
📃 Prepare Your Exit Documents
Regularly download your SF-50, recent performance evaluations, and awards from MyEPP or MyBiz
Create a personal email address and cloud folder (e.g., Google Drive) for backups of work you’re allowed to keep
IMPORTANT: Maintain a running doc of your responsibilities, activities, work products, and outcomes that you can update as you go along in your role - Google Docs is great for this. Quantify wherever possible, even if you’re making estimates. (Literally everyone should always do this at every job. You’ll use this later when you update your resume and talk about what you’ve done in conversation.)
🔐 Lock Down Your Digital Footprint
Remove personal files and private correspondence from government devices
Disable or limit social media posts that may draw political scrutiny
Set up 2FA (two-factor authentication) for all personal accounts and disconnect any work device integrations
Migrate any account or platform that you want to retain access to from your work email address to your personal (many folks lose access to their social media accounts because they haven’t done this)
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🎯 Plan Your Move Proactively
Explore detail assignments or intra-agency transfers (via USAJobs or agency HR)
Identify private-sector mission-aligned employers now—think think tanks, NGOs, compliance orgs, consulting firms—and maintain a running doc of them as they come to mind
Schedule quiet chats with ex-colleagues or mentors at other agencies or companies to build your overall awareness of the landscape and potentially test interest
📥 Stay in the Loop
Subscribe to Still In Service and actually read the posts—keeping your career growth top of mind will have served you well when it becomes your primary focus
Share this post with trusted coworkers—use Signal or encrypted email if needed
Document changes or events that concern you and timestamp key communications (send copies to a personal account if you can), including your recollections of things that have happened in the past
☕ Help Others: Pay What You Can
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Forward this post to trusted coworkers. Quiet preparation today could save your job—or your sanity—tomorrow.
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