Haven't you ever been a broke college grad looking for 3 months with no luck? I'm not exactly on the market right now, but there was a time when I'd take any offer, and making a principled stand over something like NDA/Non-Compete was simply out of the question for me. (And I felt strongly about it, but so did my parents who were growing quite tired of paying to keep me alive, and understandably.)
And what if the next job offer also requires a Non Compete?
You may go all the way through interviewing and accepting the offer, even until you show up on the first day before you find out they require you to sign this piece of paper.
Your options at that point are: (1) don't sign it, don't say anything about not signing it... (2) make a big deal about not signing it, maybe you even ask for more money because this was never part of the deal... (3) walk out.
The point is that after months of job searching and long, involved hiring processes, not everybody is at liberty to "just say no." You're looking for a job because you needed one.
Now sure, they may be the ones hiring because they need you just as badly, but you'll rarely be in a position to know that for sure.
> you show up on the first day before you find out they require you to sign this piece of paper.
So ask them as part of "accepting the offer" to see the contract, rather than later. It's a bit foolish to move to another city for a job without knowing what the contract is.
> they may be the ones hiring because they need you just as badly, but you'll rarely be in a position to know that for sure.
And they don't know if you'll walk away, either. Unless you act like a victim when talking to them, of course.
Essentially, if you act like a victim, you'll become one. It's just like dating - she's going to walk all over you if you act all needy and desperate.
You're not going to die if you don't get that one job in the entire US.
