Facing the lowest unemployment rate in the country, employers at Wednesday's Job Quest job fair at the Neal Blaisdell Center may need to spiff up their display tables and bring out their best recruiters.

"In a slower market, we see them show the flag and just have a presence," said Beth Busch, Job Quest's executive director. "In a market like this, anything that they can do to get an edge, they're going to do. Anything that gives you a leg up on the competition and helps you bring in people, you should be employing it in this market."

By the end of last week, 175 organizations and businesses had signed up for the job fair and the number could rise even more by Wednesday.

A hui of companies under the Food Pantry brand last week had plans to install an 8-foot-tall canvas behind its recruiting table painted to resemble an ancient block wall, sort of like the thick stones of a castle.

Each stone will carry the name of one of the different companies. And a sign on top will read something like "Build A Better Foundation," said Tim Ziegel, visual director for the Sullivan Family of Companies, which includes Food Pantry.

Ziegel normally focuses on finding ways to better display store merchandise to attract customers. But after a frustrating and "horrible" search for new employees for his own department, Ziegel agreed to dress up the Food Pantry's recruitment table.

"We need to do anything to catch their eyes," Ziegel said. "We really need to stand out. Everybody's going to be trying harder this time."

Carleen Choo, Food Pantry's director of human resources, hopes to fill about 30 cashier, warehouse, assistant manager and buyer positions, among other jobs on O'ahu, for Lamonts Gift & Sundry, Kohala Bay Collections, Whalers General Store, Food Pantry Superette, Products of Hawaii Too and Malama Market.

And Choo plans to offer jobs on the spot Wednesday — if she can find good applicants.

"If you can't grab them when you can, there's a lot of other recruiters looking," Choo said. "If you snooze, you lose. The market is so tight that if you tell someone to come back two weeks later for an interview, you'll probably lose them because people are ready to hire right now. ... With the lowest unemployment in the nation, it's just so hard. You need to go that extra mile to get these people."

Busch expects to see lots of recruiters offering jobs Wednesday. And those that need to run extensive background checks are looking for ways to streamline the process so they don't lose good candidates, Busch said.

"They're definitely going to try to make the best use of the fair that they can," she said.

The Hawai'i region of Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Hilton's time-share division, has 28 openings on O'ahu, including some for sales, marketing, reservations, business analysts and administrative assistants — as well as another 20 positions on the Big Island.

The company particularly wants Japanese-speaking candidates. But Stephanie James, Hilton Grand Vacations' human resources representative, knows "it's extremely competitive."

So Hilton's recruiters will emphasize the company's benefits that include travel, a 401(k) plan and vesting after only 90 days.

"It's become more of an employee-driven market," said Yvette Gibson, Hilton Grand Vacations Club's sales recruitment manager, human resources. "Employees have lots of choices of which employer to go to."

But while others plan to dress up their tables and displays on Wednesday, Gibson's team of recruiters will focus on old-fashioned Hawai'i hospitality to draw in job seekers

"We'll just be friendly," Gibson said, "and bring our aloha to the job fair."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.