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You should never sign one of those unless your employer provided you with the skills to enter that industry. But if you started the job already possessing thos

You should never sign one of those unless your employer provided you with the skills to enter that industry. But if you started the job already possessing those skills, then that's essentially your profession. Them asking you not to work in the industry for 12 months after leaving the job is akin to asking a lawyer or docter not to practice law or medecine after leaving a firm or clinic. It's a major overreach.

toktok555 7y ago
I am a developer for a startup in the Blockchain space. I definitely could code before that job. The non-compete covers any company that deals with Blockchain.
- SkyMarshal 7y ago
  My very first job out of college was with a company that put us through a 6-month training program and paid us our regular salary during it. I found it fair they asked us to sign a contract promising to remain with the company for at least 1yr after the training program ended, and signed that. They didn’t ask us to sign a non-compete, but did ask us to sign a no-solicitation agreement (eg don’t poach their employees after you leave), and I found that fair too. A subsequent company later asked its developer hires to sign a non-compete agreeing not to work in that industry for 1yr after leaving. But they were hiring us for skills we had already developed prior to joining, and contributed no training or skill development. All the developers refused to sign that and explained how you can’t expect people to agree not to work in their profession if they leave a company. The CEO of that co realized they had overstepped and cancelled the non-compete request, which was cool. It was just an overprotective legal department pushing the limits of what they could get away with. Regarding your contract, is your company’s blockchain product open source? Almost all of them are, since the whole point of blockchain is trust. If that’s the case, then their non-compete may be pointless, in that it doesn’t protect any actual trade secrets since they’re all open source. Also depending on what state you’re in, your non-compete may not be legal. Worth looking into.

toktok555 7y ago

I am a developer for a startup in the Blockchain space. I definitely could code before that job. The non-compete covers any company that deals with Blockchain.

SkyMarshal 7y ago
My very first job out of college was with a company that put us through a 6-month training program and paid us our regular salary during it. I found it fair they asked us to sign a contract promising to remain with the company for at least 1yr after the training program ended, and signed that. They didn’t ask us to sign a non-compete, but did ask us to sign a no-solicitation agreement (eg don’t poach their employees after you leave), and I found that fair too. A subsequent company later asked its developer hires to sign a non-compete agreeing not to work in that industry for 1yr after leaving. But they were hiring us for skills we had already developed prior to joining, and contributed no training or skill development. All the developers refused to sign that and explained how you can’t expect people to agree not to work in their profession if they leave a company. The CEO of that co realized they had overstepped and cancelled the non-compete request, which was cool. It was just an overprotective legal department pushing the limits of what they could get away with. Regarding your contract, is your company’s blockchain product open source? Almost all of them are, since the whole point of blockchain is trust. If that’s the case, then their non-compete may be pointless, in that it doesn’t protect any actual trade secrets since they’re all open source. Also depending on what state you’re in, your non-compete may not be legal. Worth looking into.