Hard times are swelling attendance at job fairs both locally and across the state.

At McClellan Park on Thursday, 400 job seekers went through in the first hour of the state Employment Development Department "talent transfer" fair, designed to help unemployed workers from the depressed housing industry get into jobs where their skills are in demand. The five-hour fair drew nearly 1,000.

State officials said job fairs are seeing about twice as many participants as they were getting only two years ago. Local companies said they're seeing two to three times the candidates they had at recruitment events in 2006.

EDD job fairs feature multiple employers, but the Sacramento area's 7.4 percent unemployment rate also is driving crowds to fairs hosted by individual employers.

Earlier this week, a two-day fair hosted by Red Hawk Casino in El Dorado Hills drew 1,000 people and 200 were hired. Counting online applications, more than 14,000 have applied for 1,750 jobs at the casino scheduled to open in December outside Placerville.

EDD is involved in about a dozen job fairs a month throughout California, and with statewide unemployment at 7.7 percent, the department is seeing bigger numbers at its gatherings – 1,200 on a recent swing through Anaheim and San Bernardino, and 1,000 more in Woodland Hills.

Job fair organizers said the hordes of people now applying for limited openings virtually guarantees a low batting average. That is unlikely to change anytime soon because of stagnation in key industries.

However, there is virtually universal agreement that job fairs hone job-seeking skills. Many job fairs offer on-site help for résumé preparation, interview skills and getting job candidates' names on key sites online.

Esther Smith, a Sacramentan "looking for a job in anything from waitressing to receptionist," said she has become more savvy after making the rounds of three local fairs. But she's still looking for work.

"I didn't even have a real résumé the first time I went, but now I do, and they taught me how to get to the point right away," she said. "But right now there are so many of us trying to get just a few jobs."

Mike Dourgarian, franchise president of Manpower of Sacramento, said he considers job fairs beneficial.

"It provides an opportunity for exposure," he said. "You have conversations with employers, and the more of those you have, it adds to your experience."

Dourgarian said the downside of high unemployment is that there are many people with similar skills vying for a limited number of jobs.

"It's a bad time to be average in anything," Dourgarian said. "It's a tough time for people who don't have specific skills."

Job fair attendance has swelled so dramatically that organizers spend weeks making preparations.

"I like to say it's like organizing a wedding," said Loree Levy, an EDD spokeswoman. "You have a lot of organizing of details, and you have to get it right."

And there are other issues: advertising in local media, direct-mail invitations to employers and prospective employees, Internet hookups and setting up makeshift interview rooms.

Gearing job fairs to specific groups also has become popular.

At EDD's "talent transfer" fairs – part of a $10 million initiative by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration to stimulate job opportunities for workers laid off from construction, mortgage and real estate jobs – the goal is "to have jobs that align with the job seekers and their particular skills," said Dennis Petrie, deputy director of EDD's Workforce Services Branch.

EDD also is hosting a series of specialized "Honor a Hero, Hire A Vet" job fairs designed to put military personnel into the work force.

Online job-finding companies also are seeing large numbers at their fairs.

Chicago-based CareerBuilder, the online help-wanted advertising company partly owned by The McClatchy Co., is drawing between 400 and 2,100 people at its "career fairs," depending on how many employers are involved.

"Our attendance has been increasing steadily this year," said spokeswoman Allison Nawoj.

CareerBuilder events include virtual jobs fairs, one of which will be conducted in the Sacramento area Oct. 6 through Oct. 26. Details can be viewed at www.careerbuilder.com.

Steve Sylven, spokesman for Monster Worldwide Inc. in New York, said the company's job fair traffic has increased 78 percent compared with last year.

Monster is conducting a job fair Nov. 12 at the Red Lion Hotel, 1401 Arden Way, Sacramento. More details can be viewed at www.monster.com.

Call The Bee's Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.