On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 18:24:26 GMT, Ignoramus26750
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:14:24 -0800, Eric R Snow wrote:
It did bother me that the guy's character didn't show. To me. It mat
be that I'm not such a good judge of character. So the next hire will
have to prove to me that they are worth the investment. But this
experience will not deter me from trying again to pass the machinist
trade on to another generation.

Eric, your experience is not unusual, do not beat your head over
it. It is hard to be a good judge of character at interviews and most
people are not such. I am sorry if I missed something, but did you
check his references? School grades? Knowledge of some basic math?
Anything that shows that he accomplished at least anything, anywhere?

I am a bad judge of character and try to rely on measurable things.

i
I did check. The most valuable advice (Ithought) was from his foreman
(he was working when I hired him) and his ex-girlfriend. She worked
for me as a temp a couple years ago. She was a hard worker, always on
time, and not afraid to use her intelligence. He got good grades. I
guess the job didn't interest him enough. Maybe he thought he would
like to be a machinist and discovered later that wasn't the case.
ERS