Some 5,800 people with hopes of landing a job turned out yesterday for the annual Job Quest fair at the Neal Blaisdell Center, where 130 businesses, nonprofit organizations and the city offered employment in a wide range of positions.

At times the Exhibition Hall seem overwhelmed with people, many standing 10 to 15 deep in front of the booths.

It is Hawai'i's oldest and largest job fair.

In the first hour about 2,000 people poured through the door, taking all the courtesy bags that were handed out to people to store information and applications that were abundant at each table.

People from all walks of life were there dressed in an array of styles from T-shirts, shorts and rubber slippers to dark business suits. Laborers, professionals and executives were scouting the booths, some with resume in hand some without.

'I FEEL VERY POSITIVE'

Barbara Heimrich, dressed in a fitted red jacket and dark trousers, visited booths of employers that could use her concierge and management skills.

Out of work since March, Heimrich, 51, said she liked the prospects offered at the job fair.

"I feel very positive about it," she said. "I feel very crowded but everybody has been very friendly, very warm and easy to talk to."

The job fair was sponsored by Oahu Worklinks, ALTRES Staffing, The Honolulu Advertiser and Success Advertising Hawaii.

With an August unemployment rate of 7.2 percent in Hawai'i and an estimated 46,000 people out of work, the job fair offers an opportunity for people to learn more about varying businesses and the positions available now and in the future.

The Census Bureau will be recruiting after Nov. 15, and the city needs 44 people to work on the rail project.

"If everything goes as planned when they award the construction contract at the end of the year for the first leg of the route, it will create a thousand jobs," said Scott Ishikawa, rail spokesman.

Beth Busch, job fair organizer, said 5,800 job seekers turned out yesterday compared with 6,500 in May. But the 130 employers there were more than at the May job fair.

"That tells me people are thinking more positively about the economy," Busch said after the job fair.

PERMANENT STAFF

Macy's, Honolulu Cookie Company and Jeans Warehouse were there to staff up for the holidays, but others such as Foodland, Marukai and construction company Chugach Alaska Corp. were hiring permanent positions now.

"We've got positions open at 120 locations worldwide," said Bill Lescalleet, public works manager in Kwajalein Atoll. Lescalleet said he needs journeymen for a Kwajalein project. "The pay scale is a little less than it is here, but then we provide everything, housing, meals, everything. There are no expenses."

It's the kind of job Clayton Kahunanui, 50, might want but he doesn't fit the requirements. Still Kahunanui said he picked up five applications and intended to turn them in before leaving. Out of work for a year, he said he needs to work.

"I feel like opportunity is here," Kahunanui said. "I'm not desperate but I like work. I need money."

Residents young and old were picking up applications from as many as 10 companies and hoping for the best, saying they would take any job because they have families to care for and no more resources.

Nicole Quitevis, 20 and a college student, was looking for a second job and was surprised to have done an initial interview at the job fair with Shore Bird Restaurant in Waikiki.

"I wasn't expecting there to be that many jobs," Quitevis said. "I have one job and this would be a second job. I need the money. I'm trying to save."

The center was set up to help applicants with copying machines, interview rooms and lots of chairs and tables to sit at to fill out applications. Some people ended up on the floor filling out the forms.

Lisati Ahcing, 22, said the whole joblessness situation has him feeling stressed. He filled out an application with the Navy Exchange but was told to come to a job fair there in October. With a child, girlfriend and living in a home with 18 people, Ahcing said he needs to be a contributing member of the family.

"I need to get a job to support myself, my family and to get married," he said.