If you read the comments in the post, the company employees are saying that the majority of the people in trial week are from out of the area. This changes th

If you read the comments in the post, the company employees are saying that the majority of the people in trial week are from out of the area. This changes the story quite a bit. If I were to offer you a position in a different city, you'd probably want to check out the city first. I offer to pay for your trip and I'll even put you up for a week, and you can even come work with us for a week, and I'll pay you for that too. Sounds great, or at least better than not being paid. The risk in this situation isn't just the risk of hiring a new employee being mitigated by the company. It's also the risk of relocating to a new city, combined with taking a new job with a new company, being mitigated by the job seeker. When the company takes away much of that risk by paying for the trip, putting up the worker, and paying for the work being done during that trip, it takes away much of the risk for the job seeker.