Photos by Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

Job seekers fill out participant information at the Holiday Career and Lifestyle Fair in the Roanoke Civic Center on Tuesday. An estimated 1,000 to 1,200 people attended.

Lauren Blackwell (left) and Jamie Barrow speak Tuesday with a Virginia Tech recruiter at a job fair initially designed to entice native Roanokers who are home for the holidays to stay. There were more job seekers than usual at this year's event.

Kenneth Hale drops off a resume with an Advance Auto Parts recruiter at Tuesday's job fair in Roanoke.

Job seekers by the hundreds poured into a job and career fair Tuesday in Roanoke.

Many shared stories of job losses tied to the nation's financial crisis.

Initially, the annual Roanoke Holiday Career and Lifestyle Fair was designed to help persuade young professionals home for the holidays to return to the region to work and live.

Tuesday's event attracted an unprecedented mix.

Unemployed blue-collar workers wearing camouflage caps, jobless college graduates sporting neckties or conservative women's wear, middle-aged professionals clutching resumes, and job hunters as old as 79 filled out applications and talked to prospective employers.

Stuart Mease, an employee of Roanoke's department of economic development, said he was struck by the diverse turnout for the third annual event. The city is a co-sponsor.

"If people didn't think there was a problem with the job market, they do now," Mease said.

Among older job seekers, smiles were scarce.

The three-hour job fair ended at noon. Mease estimated attendance at about 1,000 to 1,200 -- or "almost as many this year as the first two years combined."

But fewer employers booked booths.

"They told me, 'I'm just not going to come because I don't have any jobs,' " Mease said.

Christiansburg resident Kenneth Hale, 47, waited patiently in a long line for a minute or two of face time with a woman representing Advance Auto Parts, based in Roanoke.

Hale lost his job more than a year ago as a welding inspector after an accident unrelated to his work.

"I can't get my job back because of the economy," he said.

Covington resident Mark Hunter, 37, said the economy cost him his warehouse job about two months ago at a department store distribution center. He said he is willing to commute from Covington to Roanoke to work.

Sam Hale, not related to Kenneth, graduated in early 2008 from Radford University with a management degree. He wore a tie Tuesday.

"I've got two jobs and I'd like to find a job with benefits," said Hale, 23.

Asked what type of full-time job he sought, Hale replied, "It really doesn't matter. I've got rent and bills to pay."

Many people declined to be interviewed on the record about their job status. One man said he was "phased out, along with about 24 other people," from a metal fabrication business.

Jeremy Hinrichs, 22, graduated in spring from the College of William & Mary. He hopes to find work in Roanoke as a videographer or cinematographer.

While he hunts for work, Hinrichs lives with his parents in Roanoke.

He said his family and the Roanoke Valley's comparatively affordable cost of living drew him home.

"Roanoke is much more economically friendly," he said, than the Eastern Shore or Northern Virginia. "The truth is, I'm very hard up for money right now."

Participants Lauren Blackwell and Jamie Barrow, both 21, met at Roanoke College. Barrow is pursuing a master's of business administration degree at Virginia Tech and will not graduate until 2010. Smiling, Barrow said she hopes economic conditions will improve by then.

Charles Hutton, 79, was almost certainly the job fair's oldest attendee.

He said his job as a courier for a dental laboratory had been "discontinued." He said he wasn't sure why.

What job was he looking for Tuesday?

"Most anything," Hutton said, citing the challenges of surviving on a fixed income while basic costs of living steadily rise.

Coy and Bonnie Renick represented The Renick Group, a Roanoke-based professional recruiting and salaried staffing business. Coy Renick said the company is receiving more inquiries than usual from well-qualified people hungry for a professional position.

And he said many white-collar employers have adopted a practice formerly associated with hiring for blue-collar jobs.

"The trend is to put people on as temporary, allowing the company to try them out before they hire them," Renick said.

At least a few of the employers present Tuesday, including Advance Auto and the Western Virginia Regional Jail, had job openings.

Brian Simmons of Wachovia said the bank wants to hire customer service employees to work in Roanoke County even as the merger of Wachovia Corp. and Wells Fargo Bank & Co. nears consummation.

"Yes, we are hiring, contrary to popular belief," Simmons said.

"This is my second year [at the job fair] and I did not see the foot traffic last year that I've seen today," he said. "We've had a lot of people who have said they've lost their jobs."

On the Net: www.roanokeva.gov/jobhelp