To be fair, that is a restatement of the problem into a much more difficult one. Instead of looking for the best candidate among N, you are looking to maximize

To be fair, that is a restatement of the problem into a much more difficult one. Instead of looking for the best candidate among N, you are looking to maximize net-present-value of the work product produced by a candidate selected from a pool of N presented over time. So you need not just a discrete better/worse comparison of candidates, but some linear measure of each candidate's productivity, some value for the work product, and an interest rate.