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"After three rounds of interviews for a sales position with Prudential Insurance Co. of America, Patricia Rosa received a letter in February saying her job application was denied based on information from a background check she authorized the company to conduct. The only blemish on her record, she says: Poor credit that built up since she lost her job two years ago."

"The idea that employers perform Internet searches on job candidates is nothing new -- and the frequency of these searches is climbing. Some experts report that up to 85% of hiring managers "Google" a candidate before or after an interview."

"Later this year, a marketing manager will sit down for his first day of work at HomeAway, a company that helps people rent their vacation homes online. In the firm's sleek Austin, Texas, headquarters, a glass-wrapped building decorated with travel souvenirs, the marketer will flip on his computer and do his job - a job no one has done before. This, you see, will be a brand-new job, one of the most coveted commodities of economic recovery. "

With today's stale job market limiting employees' mobility, executives have a unique opportunity to boost the motivation and productivity of their top talent without spending lots of money. Unfortunately, many companies are missing the mark - especially when it comes to managing their emerging leaders, or "high potentials." Here are the five biggest mistakes companies are making with high-potential talent:

"With the country's unemployment hovering around 10%, many professionals are on the hunt for the perfect job. But what job? What industry? To the rescue are online career-assessment tests that aim to help workers (and daydreamers) identify suitable jobs and work environments. We took four tests to learn what fields are a good fit for a longtime reporter: the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Kolbe A Index, the Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (MAPP) test, and a service called Careerkey. "

"When James Marvin retired from the Navy Seals in September, he had two choices: seek a civilian government position in his current state of Virginia or pursue the unknown. He chose the latter. "We literally put the 'for sale' sign on our home, packed up the minivan, and drove cross-country," says Mr. Marvin, 44, who moved to Seattle with his wife and daughter to pursue a position with an alternative energy company."

"Kelley McDonald has always loved exploring new terrain. In home videos as early as age 3, "I'm always off by myself, looking under rocks or catching and studying bees," she says. Today, at 18, the Apple Valley, Minn., college student is studying for a science career in the fast-growing field of nanotechnology-working with materials at the molecular or atomic level. That makes her one of the lucky ones-a young adult whose career passion is in sync with one of the hot jobs of the near future."

"As the economy gradually recovers, some big U.S. companies are cranking up their recruiting and advertising thousands of job openings, ranging from retail clerks and nurses to bank tellers and experts in cloud computing."

"Companies plan to raise their salary budgets a median of 2.8% in 2011 after giving median 2.4% raises in 2010, according to a survey by management consulting firm Hay Group."

"College-admission letters are starting to roll in, but a growing number of students will decide instead to take a year off to try out potential careers or broaden their horizons. Gap-year activities range from doing volunteer work or taking classes, to working for pay, traveling or tackling outdoor adventures."

"In the last few years, leadership programs have sprung up in remarkable numbers at colleges and universities across the country. Institutions as diverse as Creighton University, Arizona State University, and Highland Community College, in Illinois, now offer leadership training and opportunities to their students. Some universities and colleges, like Gonzaga and the City University of Seattle, have developed degree programs in leadership, and many more such programs are being planned. It seems that every university Web page and presidential message now highlights leadership opportunities for students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."

"I met Dorothy Walker in my first year of Shades Valley High School, one of several schools in the Birmingham, Ala., area. Confident of little and terrified of much, I entered the honors section of her 10th-grade English class. Known to us simply as Mrs. Walker, she began by using the prescribed curriculum to shape and mold us as her students. Without my realizing it, she began teaching me a lesson that took me three graduate degrees, 24 years of service in higher education, and countless life experiences to understand: the enormous impact educators can have on their students."

College students work for different reasons. Many take jobs to pay tuition and related educational expenses. Others work to afford electronic gadgets (often ones that we, their professors, don't yet know exist). Regardless of the reasons, many professors and administrators consider students' working during college to be an unfortunate distraction from what should be their primary focus: their academic studies.

"Matthew Gonzales Sanchez calls it his "midterm crisis." Halfway through the first semester of his freshman year here at Our Lady of the Lake University, he considered dropping out. He had failed all of his midterms. "It scared me because, man, I was giving it my all," says Mr. Gonzales Sanchez, 22. "I thought, 'What am I doing wrong? They say college isn't for everybody, and maybe that's me - maybe I'm not one of those people who belongs in college.'""

"If you're like most entrepreneurs, you have a lengthy to-do list that never seems doable-no matter how many hours you work. But there's a reason you're not ticking off items, or maximizing results when you do. You've likely organized your task list by deadlines, and you're cranking away on the most pressing items first. A better, smarter approach is to prioritize your list by what matters most."

"Job boards are irresistible because they seemingly put everything within easy reach. Unfortunately, the majority of job hunters are competing for the same small pool of jobs and getting turned down."

"While working as a spa coordinator at a luxury resort in Stowe, Vt., Laura Crandall got a sense that her boss was unhappy and thinking of moving on. So Ms. Crandall trained for her boss's job by volunteering for more work, pursuing mentorships and attending management seminars."

"Kent Niederhofer can't find enough mechanical engineers to work for him - in southeastern Michigan. You know, where Detroit is, with its 13.3% unemployment rate. Niederhofer is president of the American branch of Ricardo, an engineering consultancy that designs the power trains of some of the coolest stuff around: Bugatti sports cars, huge wind turbines and unmanned aerial vehicles. "We are doing rocket science every day," says Niederhofer. "It's just not on rockets." So Ricardo got a little desperate, renting a billboard to place a help-wanted ad that featured a picture of a sexy-looking sports car, the tagline "Why you became an engineer" and a Web address for job seekers. He calls it engineer porn."