Getting fired can be the best and worst thing that ever happens during your career. Sure, it can lead to new opportunities and growth, but it’s hard. One of the worst things about being fired is being blindsided. You show up every day and perform your job to the best of your ability, but it’s still not enough. As with any relationship, having the rug pulled out from under you can leave you confused and wanting closure.

It’s not rocket science to figure out when it’s the beginning of the end with your job. Often, you feel like there’s something wrong, but you’re not exactly sure what. Being ahead of the game is always best, so I’ve provided some things to look out for that will give you time to prepare your exit strategy.

Your performance goals are unrealistic.

When I worked on Wall Street as a financial sales representative, there were always quarterly, monthly, daily and even sometimes hourly goals. It was a high-stress environment, and sometimes going to work made me miserable, especially when the goals I was given seemed to change dramatically. After a while, you develop a sense of what’s a doable goal and what’s a ridiculous, suspicious one.

If your boss is giving you unrealistic goals that you couldn’t possibly accomplish within the allotted timeframe, that’s a sure sign that a case is being built against you. Lack of performance is a very common reason to be fired because it’s hard to dispute. They gave you a goal, you didn’t meet it, end of story.

What to do: Begin to collect previous performance reviews, goals you’ve met or surpassed and any evaluations related to performance. If you get fired based on an unrealistic goal that you couldn’t possibly meet, this information helps you show your past success on your resume and explain in an interview how you exceeded expectations before the relationship turned sour.

If you can’t find this information in your own records, you’re well within your rights to visit human resources to retrieve copies of missing performance reviews and even your original job description.

Solo projects become team or group projects.