Hey, Pat -
The problem with references is how few people will respond with accurate information, or any information at all. Lawyers, liability and all that stuff. I stopped providing anyone any information on any former employee over 30 years ago. You want a reference? Sorry, we don't give them. The only thing I can do is provide starting and ending dates of employment. Other than that, there's nothing I can tell you.
Anyone who will actually give a reference has probably been instructed to say nothing negative, which makes the reference worthless. Making any comment at all is nuts.
It's just not worth the potential legal trouble should negative or less-than-positive or even neutral words that can be attributed to you become an issue. And once you say the words, they're out of your control.
Your comments will likely get noted (accurately or not) in someones file. If an unsuccessful applicant sues the guy you gave the reference to and his lawyer subpoenas the guy's records, then there you are -- a potential additional defendant in some BS suit that will cost you thousands to get rid of. No thanks. It never happened to me because I didn't give references, but it has happened to thousands of employers over the years.
Dave -
Anyone who can't add those two numbers in their head with no calculator and come up with the correct answer wouldn't receive any further consideration from me for any job, woodworking-related or otherwise.
It's amazing how many mathematical illiterates there are out there. Thanks, NEA. Wonderful job. Good thing most checking accounts are on-line and they don't have to balance their accounts themselves -- they couldn't do it.
Speaking generally, there are a lot of court cases over the last 20-30 years that deal with employment testing. You have to be very careful lest you become the object of some discrimination lawsuit because some moron was rejected due to whatever test you happened to use. In general, as much as I hate lawyers, I'd recommend consulting one who specializes in labor/employment issues before using ANY test at all. It's a veritable minefield.