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I have recently been given 2 offers for jobs that interest me. I accepted one already, but just today I got another offer!

I know rescinding an offer is frowned upon and I'm not outright going to. But I do want to explore both options to ensure I'm making a decision that's right for me. They're both quite a bit different. Different industries, sizes and etc. For the bigger one, I know quite a bit about and many people who have been there. For the smaller one (the one I accepted) it's exciting but I'm a bit apprehensive. It's way way way smaller then any company I've ever worked in and I'm a little intimidated by the expectations. Other then from a general description, I don't know the details of what I'll be doing. Nevertheless, as I was browsing through LinkedIn, I found the person who was in this position before me. My question is: would it be wrong or weird to contact this person and ask about their experience? It would help me make my decision for sure, but I don't want it to be a no no thing that one does.

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    I'd say ask, it's partly what linkedin is for.
    – user25730
    Commented Oct 11, 2019 at 2:54

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It's absolutely fine. Everything is up for grabs before you sign a formal employment contract.

Even then, it's important to remember that no business would keep you on if conditions suddenly changed and you were found to be undesirable. Why should you extend such a courtesy to them? Obviously, there can be repercussions if you start setting bridges on fire, but that's the cost of doing business.

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    A complete answer to this should include that if you interview at more than one place that interests you, you should ask for a time allotment to be able to go through the process with both and decide upon having (or not) offers from both. OP is in the wrong having accepted one and now being occupied with the 2nd.
    – Leon
    Commented Oct 11, 2019 at 6:32
  • I disagree that OP is in the wrong. It’s just business, and casual acceptance of an offer is not an employment contract.
    – Malisbad
    Commented Oct 11, 2019 at 8:17
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    There's nothing casual about accepting a job offer for the next x years of your life and treating it as such is bad form from whoever is doing that, company or candidate alike. No one forces you to accept an offer. You have all the time to seek others in parallel, and to negotiate terms for that one. I can't be the only one that likes being a man of their word.
    – Leon
    Commented Oct 11, 2019 at 9:14
  • Again, you and I completely disagree. As I said before, business cancel, reneg, and otherwise get out of signed agreements (especially casual one). Consider the offer more akin to a memorandum of understanding. It's not about "being a man of your word" at all. You haven't made any promises. The job offer is simply an understanding that you'd like to work for a place and that the simplified and non-binding terms are agreed upon. The offer has zero effect on what actually being employed will look like. The offer and the legal document can be completely different.
    – Malisbad
    Commented Oct 11, 2019 at 23:50
  • So the argument you try to make is that because businesses can act irresponsibly, prospects should do the same. " The offer has zero effect on what actually being employed will look like. The offer and the legal document can be completely different." Yet this has nothing to do with that is being asked and discussed in this question..
    – Leon
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 6:05
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To answer the question at hand:

No, there is nothing wrong with politely asking your predecessor in a job for details about the job description or that workplace in general. At worst, they won't bother to reply; at best, you will get valuable insight.

That being said and given the question is tagged as professionalism, to re-iterate what I wrote as comment initially:

If you interview at more than one place that interests you, you should ask for a time allotment to be able to go through the process with both and decide upon having (or not) offers from both. There's nothing casual about accepting a job offer for the next x years of your life and treating it as such is bad form from whoever is doing that, company or candidate alike. No one forces you to accept an offer. You have all the time to seek others in parallel, and to negotiate terms for that one. So, given you did started this one in the wrong, at the very least try to be as swift as possible when deciding if you will back off your agreement so they can at least salvage what can be salvaged in their recruit process and not, for example, cut-off other prospects thinking you 'll be joining them.

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