> Why is it so unreasonable to bring people in on an intern-like trial basis? We do that, in addition to an interview process biased towards false negatives.

> Why is it so unreasonable to bring people in on an intern-like trial basis? We do that, in addition to an interview process biased towards false negatives. We still find it expensive to make hiring mistakes, enough that we are still circumspect about candidates. Not only does it take a lot to build up someone new, it's emotionally costly to tell them at the end of the evaluation period that they didn't make the grade -- and still give them full support and a real chance the whole way, in case they can turn it around. It does happen; sometimes it just takes time for ambient culture values and priorities to sink in before people "get" what's important to succeed. It's much harder to do this trial period with option to buy, than for interns who are going back to school, where the expectations and time frame are clear. It also seems that the most capable candidates aren't as interested in being hired on a trial basis, since they have other options willing to commit more fully to them. These are a few reasons it doesn't work as well as you might hope. (* note, not talking about google here)