Executive Offers: The Hidden Red Flag

EP 3070 The offer looks great, but have you checked the fine print on the non-compete or non-solicitation clauses? ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTERPeople hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS job search coaching and career advice globally because he makes job search and succeeding in your career easier. Schedule a discovery call to speak with me about one-on-one or group coaching during your job search at ⁠www. TheBigGameHunter.us. You will also find great info and job search coaching to help with your job search at ⁠⁠JobSearch. Community⁠⁠ You can get free copies of 25 Interview Questions and Answers, How to Craft a Compelling Elevator Pitch in 20 Seconds or Less, Get Ready for the Job Jungle, Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems, No BS Resume Advice, and Prove Your Worth First, Then Negotiate. Receive free weekly suggestions and more. Subscribe to No BS Job Search Advice Radio, the #1 podcast in Apple Podcasts for job search with more than 3000 episodes. Connect on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/T⁠⁠heBigGameHunter⁠ We grant permission for this post and others to be used on your website as long as a backlink is included to ⁠www. TheBigGameHunter.us⁠ and notice is provided that it is provided by Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter as an author or creator. Not acknowledging his work or providing a backlink to ⁠www. TheBigGameHunter.us⁠ makes you subject to a $1000 penalty which you proactively agree to pay. Please contact us to negotiate the use of our content as training data.

• 0:01Speaker 00

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  Okay, let's jump right in. Picture this: You've just been offered an incredible executive job. The role is perfect, the pay is fantastic, you are absolutely ready to sign. It feels like you've hit the jackpot. But hang on a second. Before you pop the champagne, did you really, really read the fine print? Because hiding in that legal language, there could be something that turns this dream job into a total nightmare down the road. So, let's talk about this hidden clause. It's the kind of thing most people skim over in all the excitement. But trust me, understanding it is absolutely critical for protecting your career. So what are we actually talking about here? It's called a "non-compete clause." Basically, it's a part of your contract that says,

• 1:14Speaker 01

  "Hey, after you leave us, you can't go work for a competitor for a certain amount of time." Now, it's supposed to protect the company, but it can end up boxing you in. And here's where it gets really dangerous. The problem is when the language is super vague. I'm talking about clauses that say "you can't work in your entire industry" or "for any related company." This isn't just about protecting a few secrets. This is a trap that can lock you out of your own profession. And the consequences of signing one of these bad boys? It's not just some minor inconvenience. We're talking about putting your entire career on ice. For any senior leader, this is a huge deal. Being sidelined isn't just about being out of a job. It means you lose all that precious momentum.

• 1:58Speaker 01

  You're no longer in the loop. The network you spent years, maybe decades, building starts to go cold. It's a career timeout you never asked for and definitely can't afford. And how long are we talking? Often, these things demand one to two years. Just think about that. 24 months. In today's world where things change in a blink, a two-year gap doesn't just pause your career. It can seriously derail it. Now, you may be thinking, okay, that sounds bad, but that's a C-suite problem, right? Well, not so fast. Let me tell you a quick story that shows just how far down the ladder this risk goes. So there was this director-level guy, not even C-suite. He signed a really broad non-compete. What happened?

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  He was forced to sit on the bench for a full year. And get this, the company paid him something to keep the clause legally valid, but it was just a tiny fraction of his salary. He took a massive hit, both in his wallet and his career. Okay, I know, that sounds pretty terrifying, but here's the good news. You are not powerless here. Seeing a non-compete in your offer isn't the end of the road. In fact, it's the start of a really important conversation. Let's be real. Having some kind of non-compete is pretty standard, especially the higher up you go. Companies have real things they need to protect. So just seeing one in the contract is not a red flag to just walk away from the whole deal. The key isn't getting rid of the clause entirely.

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  What really, truly matters is making sure the language is reasonable for you and actually enforceable where you live. That's where you have the power. And that leads us to the most important point. These terms are not written in stone. You can and you absolutely should negotiate them. Think about it, they're hiring you to be a leader. A big part of that is showing you can advocate for a fair deal right from the start. So what does a smart negotiation actually look like? Well, your whole goal is to take that dangerously broad language and sharpen it into something specific and fair for everyone involved. Just look at the difference here. A dangerous clause says you can't work in your entire industry for 24 months.

• 4:09Speaker 01

  That's a career killer, plain and simple. What you want is something reasonable, like you can't actively poach a specific list of clients for maybe six to 12 months. See, one puts you in a cage, the other just puts up a small fence. And that timeline is just so crucial. A 24-month ban, like we said, can completely wreck your career momentum. Your goal is to get that number way, way down. Push for something like six to 12 months. That gives you a path to get back in the game before you're forgotten. So let's recap your mission. Here are your negotiation goals. One, slash that time period. Two, shrink the geographic area so you're not locked out of your own city. And three, this is the big one,

• 4:53Speaker 01

  change the wording from "the entire industry" to a short, specific list of direct competitors or clients. That's how you protect yourself. So the next time one of those amazing offers lands in your inbox, and it will, you'll know what to do. You won't just look at the salary. You'll flip right to the fine print and you'll be ready to negotiate, not just for a job, but for your entire future. Will you be ready?