I've been offered a job with a firm I really want to join. But the contract includes a super-strict non-compete clause and names three firms I wouldn't be allowed to move to directly. This seems unfair but I'm afraid to negotiate and lose the offer. How do I play this?

It's a tricky one - negotiating terms of departure at the outset of a relationship. A bit like discussing a pre-nup, it all feels a little distasteful. But that doesn't mean you can't do it.