581 days ago I interviewed at a non-profit and made the following HN post, asking the community if was a good idea to call my predecessor before going further. The advice I received was mixed (as expected), but I strongly recommend taking a look at the thread, as there were great points all around.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1050227
In the end I decided not to contact the 'last guy' based on this rationale: 1) LinkedIn showed he had little real work experience 2) the organization seemed straightforward about his departure 3) I didn't want his bias creeping into my new relationships and 4) there wasn't really much he could have said to dissuade me.
I'm writing this update to say that I very much regret this decision! :) In the end I, too, opted to leave… but it took me some time to discover the underlying problems and this could have been expedited with better knowledge (even biased 'opinions') upfront. In short, I probably would have still taken the job, but I think I would have spared myself a lot of stress and time had I had more information.
The good news is that whole ordeal did prove to be quite a learning experience, and it did work out well in the end (but at a different employer).
