On the last job I held before "real" retirement, the foremen were allowed to hire based on needs. It was the most difficult thing I ever had to do. In the 6-years I worked there, I Had some resounding successes and some dismal failures! Policy was "my way or the highway", and there never seemed to be any legal or unemployment issues on early (two weeks) terminations. California has some strange laws, so I figure if it was OK here, it's OK everywhere!
In two weeks, you can pretty well tell if the candidate is worth his or her salt. Our work was very labor intensive, so there was no time for people who failed to show or were absent from the work location during a shift.
The recruitment ideas posted previously are excellent. On-the-job performance will tell you the rest very quickly!
Hank
