[Rick Lee]

Well, I wouldn't lie to a prospective employer about having a non-compete. If I were looking to go to a competitor, I'd still be upfront about it. Chances are they'll say, "have a nice life and good luck," or they'll defend it and insist the previous employer's non-compete is unenforceable.

We're going through this now with a recent hire. We didn't ask and she didn't tell, even though she came from a competitor. (I wasn't involved in this hiring.) But once the former employer got wind of it, they sent a letter and our company is defending her. Our reasooning is that she was barely above an intern at the previous company, is a recent college grad, was phone-only and can't possibly have much industry knowledge or inside company intel.