At the previous company for which I worked, I was required to sign a non-compete agreement. While I generally believe that very restrictive non-compete agreements are very unfair to employees, especially recent graduates, I did understand it from the perspective of my previous employer. They were a niche medical device company, with a relatively small market cap and a large market share. They did not have many direct competitors for the products they produced, but the products they made were superior to their competitors in many ways. Should I have left the company for one of their competitors, I could’ve caused them significant damage with the knowledge I had gained concerning their processes and formulations. While it would not be something I would do explicitly, I understand the need to have protection in the form of a non-compete agreement.