Ask HN: Pitfalls in jumping ship to a client company?

For the past few years I have been spending about 10% of my time at my current employer working on a project for a very large west coast tech company. This essentially involves support for a piece of software which they license, weekly meetings with their team, implementing new feature requests etc. I recently saw a job posting for a role within that team which I would be absolutely ideal for, and I intend applying as it would be a great move career-wise.

My question is, what are the things I need to consider before doing so?

A few which come to mind: My current employment contract does not have a no-compete clause (and I don't believe they are even enforceable in California), but could there be HR rules at this company saying that they can't recruit from supplier teams? I would be working on the same software which might be problematic/awkward as I may need to interact with people at my previous employer. I have a lot of specialist knowledge, so concerns around IP might be raised. The business relationship between the companies will also be quite strained as my departure will be hard felt at my current employer.

I would appreciate any insights or advice from those who have dealt with similar situations and how best to navigate any pitfalls.

Your client may have a contract with your employer which would stop them from hiring you. I would ask around. In any case, you could always apply and they say no. Nothing ventured...nothing gained.

I haven't been in this situation, but I observed these situations where I worked at.

Make sure there are no clauses in your contract stipulating what they can hold you accountable for, if in doubt, consult somebody with a legal background. Consider that the relationship with the old company might be tarnished no matter how well you handle this.

In general, I would:

- Ask the client company directly, not by applying via posting, but by approaching somebody high-up who knows that you're consulting for them

- Disregard any HR rules or promises, the only things that bind you are the contract (where enforceable) and law (can't comment here)

- Make sure that the fact that you were a consultant (implied temporary relationship), doesn't put you to a bad start with the new company (ie. "we don't need this guy full time, he's only taking responsibility over something small")

- Carefully plan how and when are you quitting

That's true, but it might still scare the client / new employer off.