A client of mine, an attorney, sent me a note recently that stopped me in my tracks. We were building her resume, and I had asked for the formal titles of several internal appointments she had held. Her answer:
"Because I no longer have access to my corporate email and files, I do not have the original appointment records needed to confirm their formal internal naming conventions."
She had been let go with no notice. One meeting, and her laptop, her inbox, and years of documentation were gone. Nothing she did wrong. That is simply how many terminations work now.
I see this every week. Talented people sit down with me to tell their career story, and the details that make that story powerful are locked inside a system they can no longer open.
So let's talk about what to keep while you still have a job, what never to take, and what to do if the door has already closed.
Why this catches so many people off guard
Most of us assume we will get some warning. Often we don't.
The federal WARN Act generally requires 60 days' notice only for certain mass layoffs and plant closings, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. If you are one person, or part of a smaller cut, there is usually no required notice at all. Your access can be shut off before you are back at your desk.
And cuts are still happening. Employers announced 529,914 job cuts through August 2026, according to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas August 2026 report. That is lower than last year, but it is still more than half a million people who walked into work one day and walked out without their files.
If this happened to you, please hear me: it's not you, it's the market. But you can protect your story before you ever need to.
What to keep, starting this week
Think of this as your personal career file. It lives on your own computer or cloud account, not your employer's. And the key rule is simple: if it is about you, keep a record of it. If it belongs to the company or its clients, leave it.
I've put all of it on one page you can print and keep beside you: download the Personal Career File checklist. It has the full keep-this list, the monthly ten-minute habit, the things never to do, and a table for recording your exact titles and dates as they change.
Here is what belongs in your file:
Your official history. Offer letters, promotion letters, title changes, and any appointment letters. Write down the exact, formal name of every role, committee, task force, and practice group you join, and the dates. This is precisely what my client could not recover.
Your performance reviews. Save your own copies when you receive them. These hold the language your leaders used to describe your strengths, and they are gold for a resume and for interviews.
Your wins, in your own words. Once a month, jot down what you accomplished and the numbers attached to it. Revenue, savings, headcount, cases, deadlines met, people trained. Write it yourself from memory. Don't copy internal reports.
Your compensation and benefits records. Pay stubs, W-2s, bonus letters, and a summary of your benefits. You will need these for severance conversations, unemployment filings, and salary negotiations.
Your people. Personal email addresses or LinkedIn connections for the colleagues, mentors, and leaders who could serve as references. Once you're gone, the company directory is gone too.
Your credentials. Certificates, training completions, licenses, and continuing education. For attorneys, keep your own record of CLE credits and bar information rather than relying on a firm or company portal.
What not to do
This part matters just as much, especially for my legal, finance, and healthcare clients.
Don't forward company documents to your personal email. Not client files, not internal reports, not strategy decks, not spreadsheets. Doing this can violate your confidentiality agreement and company policy, and it can become the reason for a termination that wasn't coming. For attorneys, client information carries professional obligations that don't end when your badge stops working — something I weigh constantly when I build an attorney resume.
Don't bulk download anything on your way out. Many companies monitor for exactly this, and it can cost you your severance or your reputation.
Don't keep your personal life on a work device. Your résumé drafts, your personal photos, your job search. If the laptop disappears tomorrow, so does all of that.
Don't run your job search on company systems. Use your own phone, your own email, and your own time.
When in doubt, read your employee handbook and any agreement you signed, and ask an employment attorney if something is unclear. I'm a career counselor, not a lawyer, and this post isn't legal advice.
If it has already happened
First, breathe. Then take these steps:
Ask HR for what you're entitled to. Request copies of your performance reviews and your personnel file. Many states give employees the right to see or copy their file, though the rules vary by state. Ask for a letter confirming your titles and dates of employment.
Slow down on the severance agreement. Read it carefully before signing, and consider having an employment attorney review it. If you are 40 or older, federal law generally gives you at least 21 days to consider a release of age discrimination claims, and 45 days in a group layoff, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Rebuild from what you do have. Your LinkedIn profile, your personal calendar, old messages in your personal email, your own notes, and former colleagues who remember the details. It is often more than you think.
Use accurate, plain language when you can't confirm a formal name. If you truly can't verify an internal title, describe the role honestly and clearly. Hiring managers care far more about what you did and the results you delivered than the exact label on an internal memo.
Your story is still yours
When my attorney client and I worked through her gaps, we didn't need every original record. We needed her story: what she was trusted with, what changed because she was there, and where she wants to go next. That is the work I do with every client. Career counseling is strategy and storytelling together, and it's built from you, not from a company's file server.
If you are in the middle of this, you may also find it helpful to read how to protect your mental health during a long job search. If you are an attorney, take a look at what a legal recruiter actually looked for in an attorney resume. And before you start applying, learn how to tell which job postings are real.
Start your personal career file today, while it's easy — the checklist takes about ten minutes to set up. And if you have already lost access and aren't sure how to tell your story without it, I'd love to help you rebuild it. Book a complimentary discovery call and let's talk.