CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Nearly 2,000 people seeking jobs waited in line for hours at a southwest Charlotte hotel early Tuesday to try to land work across the region.

The first of two job fairs for local companies that are recruiting for restaurant, hotel, management, educational opportunities, customer service, healthcare services and more started at 9:30 a.m. In no time, the line to get into the hotel was wrapped around the building and into the parking lot.

Some jobseekers said they’ve never had such a hard time finding a job.

“Sales management background; (I’ve) been out of work for several months,” said Al Wilson.

“Is it harder than you thought,” asked Eyewitness News reporter Jim Bradley.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“It’s hectic. It’s crazy,” said jobseeker Crystal Manigo. “At every turn, you’re getting denied. They’re either saying that they’re not hiring or they’ve already laid off. I’ve lost my home because of this.”

Although the job fair at Hyatt Place on Forest Point Boulevard, just off Arrowood Road, was supposed to last until 1 p.m., organizers came out shortly before noon to say they wouldn’t be able to see everyone in one day.

---

• VIDEO: Unemployed Seek Scarce Jobs At Charlotte Job Fairs
• JOB SEARCH: Search Our Free Classifieds For Job Listings

---

The long line was a visual representation of the unemployment rate in Mecklenburg County at almost 9 percent.

On the positive side, Ron Cornelison with Papa John’s, and others with jobs to offer, said they are finding more and better candidates than they’ve seen before.

“More experienced people on the street looking for jobs – that’s a win for us,” Cornelison said.

But it makes it much tougher for the hundreds who are out of work. Syreeta Ashford lost her job last month, but she said she hardly expected so much competition for another.

“A lot of people are accepting applications. They may have one position available but maybe 100 people apply for that one position,” she said.

The 17 companies participating in the job fair Tuesday included: Charlotte Mecklenburg Fire Department, Clearwire, TransTech Trucking School, Debbie's Staffing, Yellowpages.com, Papa John's Pizza, ECPI College of Technology, ADT Security, The Entrepreneur's Source, Assurance Group, Avon,Time Warner Cable, U.S. Army, NASCAR Technical Institute, Sonic, Columbia Southern University and HMS Host.

On Thursday, a second job fair will be held at Hilton Garden Inn, which is located on Statesville Road, near exit 18 off I-77 at Harris Boulevard. The fair will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The following companies will participate: ASG Security, Fortune Hi-Marketing, Jacob's Ladder, Devry University, Premiere Home Health Care, United State Coast Guard, Aflac, TransTech and more.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to participate or to pre-register, send your resume to ncjobs@employmentguide.com.

You can register for job alerts from Employmentguide.com by logging onto Charlotte Employment Guide and then clicking on the Job Alerts button on the right side of the page.

There was also a sales career event on Tuesday at The Embassy Suites Hotel on South Tryon Street from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Some of the companies recruiting for those jobs require specific experience or relocation. Those companies included: GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, inVentiv Health, AXA Advisors, Brink's, Heits Business Services, Henricks Corporate Training & Development Inc., Liberty Mutual, Paycom and Toshiba.

Many jobseekers told Eyewitness News there can’t be enough job fairs right now.