Attention job hunters: This month is ripe with avenues for landing area jobs, including a virtual opportunity.

n A job fair, sponsored by The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com, is today.

Fifty-six employers, from Lewis-Gale Medical Center to Virginia Tech and the Dish Network, will promote themselves and available jobs at CareerFest today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center. It's the seventh year for the recruitment event.

n A virtual job fair, which began Sept. 7, is also under way. In it, career seekers can view available positions and submit resumes online at jobs.roanoke.com until Sept. 26.

This is a nontraditional and convenient way for people to find work, said Keith Foreman, manager of employment for classified advertising at The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com.

"The job seeker has the flexibility," he said, because potential applicants can access the job fair Web site any time of day.

This is the third time that The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com have hosted the virtual fair.

During the last one, held in June, more than 500 resumes were submitted, Foreman said.

n An Engineering Expo will be held today and Wednesday at Virginia Tech.

Hosted by the university's student engineers council, 274 companies and government agencies are scheduled to recruit students in the engineering field, where there is much demand for employees.

Ninety-five companies are on the waiting list because of lack of space, according to a university news release. The job fair's hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.

n On Thursday, the Business Horizons career fair will be held at Virginia Tech's Squires Student Center Commonwealth and Old Dominion ballrooms from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It's the 26th year for this fair, hosted by the university's Pamplin College of Business. A total of 160 employers have signed up.