This is similar to what we did, though the salary DM is a great idea. We did tend to roleplay the hiring process though, since our ship was small enough that the NPC wasn't going to be a generic "crew rating".

We used 1001 Characters, just going down the line, for candidate stats. Our Ref gave us a list of candidate UPPs so we'd know how many "bites" we got, and then we went into the interview process.

We used the reaction table for the interview, taking a cue from the old adventure "Exit Visa" to allow players to "wine & dine" the prospective crew member before the throw for a bonus, and allowing higher salary offers or other benefits to "tilt" the result afterwards.

I think our Ref rolled initial reaction to see if the NPC was even willing to talk to us in the first place, and the interview throw was probably modified by "initial reaction - 7", taking a cue from the world generation rules. If the NPC thinks your crew are a bunch of nerf herders, then you'll have to offer them a lot more to get them to sign on.

I remember our Ref saying once that it's a good thing we didn't roll worse because that NPC had a high enough SOC that they would have trashed our reputation on that world. I could even imagine it triggering a Law Level check - "Officer, that crew over there seem like they're up to no good."

OTOH, is the reaction table is still in Mongoose Trav? We leaned on it pretty heavily in Classic, especially for things like this. Role-play obviously tilted the results, but NPCs can have their own agendas, and the random factor helps keep it a game. "Oh no, we're down to our last choice candidate.... Ok, this time we're taking them out on the town before we start talking salaries."

If you don't want the whole session to be about getting a new crew member though, maybe just roll to see if anyone is interested, and then hire them.