How to avoid signing non-competes and tips on managing through timing of multiple offers

I am interviewing at three places (A, B, and C). Firm A (least attractive for me) made me an offer with a non-compete clause. The problem is that I'm in the final rounds with B and C, from which I expect to get offers by early-mid February only at best. If I don't get them, I will stick to A.

What excuse should I give A regarding avoiding the non-compete, or is there a way to fool them around while I wait for the others?  Any advice on the situation? 

It's a mid-level LO role and a 6-mo non-compete

Comments (12)

  • Investment Analyst in HF - EquityHedge
2mo 

bump

2mo 
KnowsNothing, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Just delay, delay, delay. Make excuses until you finish your other processes.

  • 1
  • Investment Analyst in HF - EquityHedge
2mo 

No, it's been paid already. 

2mo 
theL, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Tell them your lawyer is on holiday for 2m

  • Junior Trader in S&T - Comm
2mo 

Bad idea, would be a huge blow to your reputation especially considering it's a small world.

  • 1
Most Helpful
2mo 
morgantire, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Investment Analyst in HF - EquityHedge

I am interviewing at three places (A, B, and C). Firm A (least attractive for me) made me an offer with a non-compete clause. The problem is that I'm in the final rounds with B and C, from which I expect to get offers by early-mid February only at best. If I don't get them, I will stick to A.

What excuse should I give A regarding avoiding the non-compete, or is there a way to fool them around while I wait for the others?  Any advice on the situation? 

It's a mid-level LO role and a 6-mo non-compete

I'm confused, it sounds like a standard case of just wanting to delay committing to an offer from company A until you hear back from another company? But you mention the non-compete multiple times including the title, what's that got to do with this? I fail to see how the non-compete changes anything here? I don't understand why you're asking "what excuse should I give A regarding avoiding the non-compete" rather than "what excuse should I give on avoiding accepting the offer".
    Are you asking if you can negotiate away non-signing the non-compete? If so, no. They can't negotiate that. If they let you not sign it, it voids the agreement for all other employees. (See my recent post on https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/comment/3002394#comment-3002394)

But if your question is just how you can delay accepting your offer from company A until you hear back from B and C... Easy, if you're already in final rounds with companies B and C, then it seems you could simply be honest and tell them "i love your company best, it's my dream job, but I have another offer and I was hoping we could expedite the process". Good chance they'll be able to schedule you sooner. And meanwhile, tell company A that there's one personal matter you need to resolve and please would they be willing to wait two weeks. (If you want, you could make up a story like "my wife's company might be transferring her to California so I'm waiting to see if that happens before I sign your offer" or something, but really, you don't need to explain it. You can just say you need two weeks to resolve a personal issue and most of the time they'll be ok with that).

2mo 
HFPM, what's your opinion? Comment below:

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