Two things about the latency period you mention. First, it can be mitigated, and second, it's going to happen regardless. I think that physical essentials suc

Two things about the latency period you mention. First, it can be mitigated, and second, it's going to happen regardless. I think that physical essentials such as desk, workstation, etc, should be taken care of already. A smart company would have these items available in the chance that an amazing candidate could start immediately. It's a relatively small overhead cost on things that are going to eventually be required. With exception to the computer, the value of the items won't degrade with time so you might as well purchase them sooner than later. I do agree that it may take some time for even a good candidate to become productive member. However, this period of time is going to happen no matter what. By having the candidate on as a consultant at first, you at least retain the option of not hiring him fulltime... which would be much a cleaner than hiring him, then firing him shortly after or dealing with a dud employee. It's basically a "try before you buy" type of deal. No matter what car you're going to buy, it's going to take you some time to get used to it. Does that mean you shouldn't test drive them? As it stands now, the "test drive" is supposedly the interview. To me, it makes more sense to have a longer "risk free" test drive period, especially when you're going to be investing a lot into something.