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Ask HN: Have you / would you sign an NDA about a job prospect?

7 points by reinhardt ↗ HN
I stumbled on one of these "due to the awesomeness of the project, we cannot disclose more info without an NDA" job posts. I'm generally prejudiced against these things but objectively speaking, what are the pros & cons of signing such an NDA?

7 comments

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bdfh42
No never.

a) this might unfairly restrict your future job choices or personal development activities.

b) It is a classic a*hole indicator - so a good warning about the sorts of people you would be interviewing with.

<edit> Using the word "awesomeness" is another good indicator</edit>

dvmmh
How is "a)" relevant at all? A proper NDA is NOT A NONCOMPETE. It just says that you can't blab what you see during the hiring process.
laurencer
IANAL, this varies per jurisdiction - but an NDA can prevent you from working (at least from where I am from) if there is a real risk that the information may be misused.

However, it may not even be a legal barrier, there are some companies who won't hire or engage conflicted individuals due to risk of litigation.

Definitely consult a lawyer in the appropriate jurisdiction though.

jf271
Yes. In Massachusetts for a startup by MIT professors and graduates. MA will enforce NDAs and non-compete agreements. It is nothing like California here.
davismwfl
I would never sign one just to interview with the company. But if it is purely an NDA and they are saying they want to hire me but also would like to show me more details before coming on board, so we both get to make an informed decision. I have signed those before, and would again. Assuming it is strictly an NDA and not a non-compete. If it was a non-compete, or a non-compete hidden in NDA form I would politely walk and be honest about why.

I also would be leery of any job posting that wouldn't give some reasonable details. I get a stealth mode start-up, kind of, although I don't totally agree. But that doesn't mean they can't say who they are and at least what space and technologies they are in/wanting. I see neither of those as competitive advantages that need to be hidden.

alok-g
See my older comment here [1]. You may like to read the parent comment for context.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5427317

It is not uncommon to have such NDAs especially for senior-level positions. But now they have started coming for pure bureaucracy.

I have heard that some big-name companies do not even let you tell to the outside world that you interviewed with the company. This would happen when say, just for example, if a company like Facebook would have positions for cell-phone design experts. The justification given is actually reasonable -- the media picks up on such moves by companies extremely quickly.

My bet though, it is almost never about any "real awesomeness" of the project. Those projects are most likely happening at several other places in the world.