As I talk to BrandSource members around the country, I hear more and more stories about hiring deals that go sour as a result of candidate counteroffers.

How many times have you interviewed someone in person and realized in the first five minutes that the candidate was a no-go dud? And then spent the next half hour trying to excuse yourself from the interview?

Employers often ask us where they can find the going pay rates for various jobs.

Think about it: If a friend recommends a product or new restaurant to you, you’d probably be inclined to try it, right?

In a recent Gallup study, 72 percent of companies predict they’ll have an increasing number of leadership vacancies over the next two to three years.

I’m not going to bore you with how hard it is to find people out there with 12 million open jobs and an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent.

Instead, here are some practical recruitment strategies for you to employ…

Tap into your local vocational school.

And a score sheet to grade them

See how well you understand your workers