In the US, it depends on what state you’re in. In California, for example, non-competes are illegal. So, companies sign or verbally negotiate mutual non-poachi

In the US, it depends on what state you’re in. In California, for example, non-competes are illegal. So, companies sign or verbally negotiate mutual non-poaching agreements, like Apple and Google did a while back. In other states, nothing prevents non-competes, and if an employer can get you to sign the paper, then that is enforceable against you with legal action. You can hope that the National Labor Review Board would be on your side and help defend you against such legal action, but there’s no guarantee that they would do so. IMO, non-competes should be reserved for situations where you’re touching deep secrets within the company, and then only for short periods of time. Like CxO or Director type company officers, or Principal Software Developers or something like that. No one else should be subject to them.