I live in California, and when I got my first non-compete 25 years ago (out of state company, it was their standard hiring package), I asked my dads friend (a corporate council - aka an attorney who knows about this stuff) about signing it. His advice was to redline everything, sign it, and return it with the package. If the employer had balked he’d have written a letter in response, but that didn’t happen.

So that’s been my routine ever since - non-competes and any non-compete language get a red pen through them, signed, and returned.

I’ve never had a single company even mention it, let alone push back.