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Had a fun one just happen to me in the last few days. I got contacted by an agent out of the blue. "Hey Sean we've got a role that you seem perfect for, just

Had a fun one just happen to me in the last few days. I got contacted by an agent out of the blue. "Hey Sean we've got a role that you seem perfect for, just sign this NDA so we can talk." I look at the NDA and it includes a noncompete for the duration of the project + 12 months after. The nda is also not mutual so the noncompete and nondisclosure is only binding on me not the other party. In fact I don't even know who the other party is or what they do. Only if I sign this then for an undisclosed period of the project + 12 months _whether or not I get the job_ I can't compete with them whatever they do. I get back to the agent and say there's no way I can sign a noncompete until I know what it is I'm committing not to compete with. The guy spends several days trying various desperate negotiating tactics "I spoke to my boss and he says there really is no risk to you if you sign this, it's totally standard"... "I spoke with our CFO and you have to sign for us to proceed"....(That's great for your boss and CFO but I'm the one on the hook here if I sign, not them) "The noncompete really doesn't commit you to anything, but you have to sign..." (if it doesn't commit me to anything there's no downside to you removing it) ... "The client is so secretive and the project such a big deal we can't risk it leaking..." etc. At each point I just held firm and said there's no way I can sign a noncompete unless I know what I'm committing not to compete with. After one more go of "there's no way we can go ahead without an NDA in place" (even though I've already said I'm happy with the NDA as long as they strike the noncompete clause) I said "OK well in that case it's 'no thanks' from me". 24 hours later they get back to me with "What about if we tell you who the client is, will you sign then?". I'm just letting them marinade for now...

glenneroo 5y ago
Well since you didn't sign the NDA... care to divulge who was making this preposterous "offer"? ;)
- seanhunter 5y ago
  I currently don't know. Just dealt with a random agency who was representing them.
908B64B197 5y ago
Quote them a rate that's 5x what you normally go for and see if they bite. Add a clause where you need to be compensated for the complete duration of the non-compete too. See if they respond.
nfriedly 5y ago
I used to freelance in the past, and I always charged extra for signing NDAs other than my standard one. Usually it turned out that my standard one was good enough after all, but sometimes I actually got paid for signing the client's "special" NDA. I've never seen any one that egregious, though. I'd charge quite a lot to sign that.
- hosteur 5y ago
  May I ask how much you charged extra for signing the NDA? And was it a one time fee, or a different rate or was it a recurring fee while the NDA was in effect?
  - nfriedly 5y ago
    I think it was about $200, but it's been like 10 years, so I'm not certain. It was something in that ballpark, though. Basically just enough that I could run it past a lawyer if anything seemed questionable to me. It was a one-time fee.
    - avereveard 5y ago
      That's a steal, I charge a 500/mo fee for my current (and I'm still employed with them, there's no provision for continuing the NDA after employment)
gitonup 5y ago
This behavior by recruiters is wildly frustrating to me even without NDAs involved. I can't count the number of times I've actually been looking for jobs and gotten a coy "I have a role you'd be perfect for" message from a recruiter, then when I ask who the company is they outright refuse to tell me til I get on the phone with them. For the couple of times I've played ball with this in the past, they've told me who the client is on the phone, so why the secrecy when it's over an asynchronous messaging platform? I don't owe you synchronous time and it'd save us both a lot of headache if you'd just be upfront with who you're pitching.
- LambdaComplex 5y ago
  Metrics/KPIs. They're probably judged on how many people they manage to get on the phone.
gorbachev 5y ago
An Amazon subsidiary used to, probably still does, require NDAs for every candidate they'd invite for an in-house interview. I went though pretty much the same crap you described. They even went as far as to say the NDA is there to protect me. Good thing that conversation wasn't on the phone, because I let out a pretty good belly laugh over that one.

glenneroo 5y ago

Well since you didn't sign the NDA... care to divulge who was making this preposterous "offer"? ;)

seanhunter 5y ago
I currently don't know. Just dealt with a random agency who was representing them.

908B64B197 5y ago

Quote them a rate that's 5x what you normally go for and see if they bite. Add a clause where you need to be compensated for the complete duration of the non-compete too. See if they respond.

nfriedly 5y ago

I used to freelance in the past, and I always charged extra for signing NDAs other than my standard one. Usually it turned out that my standard one was good enough after all, but sometimes I actually got paid for signing the client's "special" NDA. I've never seen any one that egregious, though. I'd charge quite a lot to sign that.

hosteur 5y ago
May I ask how much you charged extra for signing the NDA? And was it a one time fee, or a different rate or was it a recurring fee while the NDA was in effect?
- nfriedly 5y ago
  I think it was about $200, but it's been like 10 years, so I'm not certain. It was something in that ballpark, though. Basically just enough that I could run it past a lawyer if anything seemed questionable to me. It was a one-time fee.
  - avereveard 5y ago
    That's a steal, I charge a 500/mo fee for my current (and I'm still employed with them, there's no provision for continuing the NDA after employment)

gitonup 5y ago

This behavior by recruiters is wildly frustrating to me even without NDAs involved. I can't count the number of times I've actually been looking for jobs and gotten a coy "I have a role you'd be perfect for" message from a recruiter, then when I ask who the company is they outright refuse to tell me til I get on the phone with them. For the couple of times I've played ball with this in the past, they've told me who the client is on the phone, so why the secrecy when it's over an asynchronous messaging platform? I don't owe you synchronous time and it'd save us both a lot of headache if you'd just be upfront with who you're pitching.

LambdaComplex 5y ago
Metrics/KPIs. They're probably judged on how many people they manage to get on the phone.

gorbachev 5y ago

An Amazon subsidiary used to, probably still does, require NDAs for every candidate they'd invite for an in-house interview. I went though pretty much the same crap you described. They even went as far as to say the NDA is there to protect me. Good thing that conversation wasn't on the phone, because I let out a pretty good belly laugh over that one.