Advice needed for a Non-Compete I Signed with a Former Employer
LOCATION: NJ
Hi everyone, would really appreciate advice from anyone with non-compete experience in NJ (I live in NYC).
I recently left a mid-sized healthcare adtech company based in NJ after ~4 months (commercial side: programmatic/DSP, pharma clients). I have a fairly broad non-compete (not company-specific). Realistically, I only worked with 1–2 clients and could easily avoid them.
I’m now exploring two paths:
- Option 1: A previous company I trust and would return to in a heartbeat
- Option 2: A new company that’s extended an offer
The complication is with Option 2: they’re requiring me to get a formal non-compete release from my former employer before issuing an official offer.
That raises a few concerns:
- I doubt my former employer would grant a release (especially for a similar role)
- Requesting one could “alert” them and create future risk
- I’m not senior (not C-level) and wouldn’t target the same clients (I'd be AE)
- It feels like the new company is pushing all legal risk onto me upfront
It also makes me worry that Option 1 could back out too because of the same non-compete.
Questions:
- Has anyone successfully gotten a non-compete release in a situation like this?
- Is it a red flag for a company to require this before even formalizing the offer?
- Would you reach out to your former employer, or avoid triggering anything?
- How do companies usually handle this?
Trying to be thoughtful here and not make a move that backfires long-term. Would really appreciate any insight from people who’ve navigated this.