Great suggestions, I especially think the trial period idea is interesting. There's a few things that complicate it a bit though...this person will have to move to a different city to work, so the compensation will have to be higher to account for the uncertainty. Also, if it does work out, I don't want to the person to line something else up before the 6 months are out....I suppose there'll need to a "buffertime" between when a permanent job is offered and the end of the temporary phase.