<p>@jym: I wonder if that’s something they typically offer people, or if your son was just an exceptional candidate. If I could get that it would be fantastic, and I could keep both options open…
Any suggestions? It feels like a little much to ask A for that if I’d be declining their original offer.</p>
<p>Ahh…okay…you are looking at the major direct competitor for the company I was thinking of! Good luck and follow your heart…life is too short not to!</p>
<p>Don’t know the answer to that question, lfx, apologies. His background is mech. E but they had him do some programming (write code or something) on the spot as part of the interview process. They made him an offer and when he declined, telling them that he wanted to stay in engineering (he had told them this before they flew him out but they flew him out for the interview anyway), when he declined is when they told him they would keep his acceptance offer on file. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>B probably does not have a job to offer you especially with all these budget cuts in Washington. I would go with A.</p>
<p>I don’t want to rant or sound like an old fogey but the idea that you think working 50 hours a week is a lot is absurd! I don’t know of any company where people work just 40 hours/week, especially when just starting out. Somehow this past summer the interns at my husbands firm were working only 45 hours due to a personnel glitch and he apologized to them for giving them an unrealistic view of the firms expectations. You should arrive at least 15 minutes before your boss and leave at least 15 minutes after your boss. Just some unsolicited advice.</p>
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<p>An interesting idea… would definitely consider that to be location-specific most likely. I know in my situation, that never happens. A) I seldom actually see my boss. B) My boss does not work at 5:30AM or at 9PM like some of our staff does…</p>
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<p>Perhaps, but wouldn’t it still be a hindrance to an unemployed person, who may find that other employers may not want to deal with the hassle of potential lawsuits around a non-compete?</p>
<p>A non-compete for a position other than executive level or similar would only be ethically acceptable if the employer guaranteed severance pay and benefits after termination of employment for the length of the non-compete, or waived it if it did not give the severance pay and benefits.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, jym. I guess I’ll just have to see what happens if I turn them down. </p>
<p>@DrGoogle: I’m fairly positive B has a job for me. The contract is pretty stable, plus they’ve given me a date next week when HR will finally be finished processing the paperwork & will provide details to me. I don’t know why it would benefit them to lie about that, but I’m not accepting anything until I can see and consider their formal offer in writing. </p>
<p>@atmc: It’s not that 45-50 hours is ridiculous, it’s that that seems to be the bare minimum and things only go up from there. It could end up being significantly more hours per week, and the fact that I could end up working weekends, have little time off, and other factors at A make work-life balance somewhat of a concern. </p>
<p>Also, the total number of hours/week isn’t as important to me as whether I like the job or not…I’ve worked 15 hour shifts at a job I love that passed way faster than 2 hour shifts at one I hated. That’s also part of the dilemma. I could be working fewer hours at B, but hate the job, or work significantly more and have little time for other things at A, but maybe still like it more? I don’t know.</p>
<p>It would be even less of an issue when someone is unemployed. The non-compete clause, if it stands, would be between employer and employee, not between 2 employers. It is more of an issue if one employer hires a whole department of another employer, or if an employee takes code or any proprietary information from his/her ex-employer. </p>
<p>In my business, the standard is 3 months (we call it a garden leave). The idea is after 3 months knowledge from work would become obsolete. The ex-employer would have the option to pay the garden leave or wave it. As a manager, I have wanted to exercise that with few exiting employees and have been informed by HR that it is really not enforceable.</p>
<p>The very best job seeking advice I have ever received is “go with your gut”. Every jobs has it’s upside and downside, but seriously, go where you feel happier.</p>
<p>Company B may provide better opportunities in the future, but only if you also excel at your position there. It’s much more difficult to excel at a job you don’t really like. </p>
<p>Which company is more flexible with the work you have to do? My d interned one year at a small shop, where her job was in marketing but they were so small that her job was basically in everything. The next year, she interned at a large “name brand” shop, where her job was limited and ended up being stultifying. You may find working in the smaller, more flexible shop to be more rewarding.</p>
<p>Your life and career is not linear. It will take you back, forth, in circles, in figure eights, back through the woods and across the river. The decision you make now will affect it, but not irretrievably or irrevocably. I can count on the fingers of one hand and have a remarkable number of fingers left over, the people who remained on the same career path over the course of 30 or 40 years without a detour here or there. Personally, I’m in my third career, which didn’t even exist when I graduated from college. </p>
<p>Go with your gut. (And of course, wait until you see the numbers!)</p>
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<p>That’s what non-disclosure agreements are for.</p>
<p>In California, non-compete agreements for ordinary employees are illegal, but non-disclosure agreements are common.</p>
<p>You have two posters above with two midwest locations. IF it is the one NOT in Kansas definitely consider it- PM me. EXCELLENT place for young people and excellent company located here. The nondisclosure is standard and necessary.</p>
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<p>That is life. It’s something that comes along with being employed sometimes. I went a stretch earlier this fall where I worked 41 days in a row. But the thing is-- if it’s something you enjoy, you’ll hardly notice!</p>
<p>Its a little tough to tell here, but one consideration is which company’s reputation would be most beneficial to your experience if you were looking again in three years. In some fields there is an elite pecking order, and its much easier for people to move from certain firms than it is from others. Maybe IT is more of a level playing field and kind of the same everywhere. I don’t know, but you probably have a feeling for that.</p>
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<p>While I would agree that A sounds a lot better for most aspects, a non-compete rather than a non-disclosure is worrisome, unless the company guarantees severance pay for as long as the non-compete is in force. Check with a lawyer expert on employment law in that state to see whether it is legal and/or enforceable, and (if not) how much of a legal hassle it would be to void it.</p>