A lively, and hopeful, Camden County Job Fair

Barely an hour into Tuesday's Camden County Job Fair, Sheila Barrett hugged everyone in sight and, with tears of joy, rang a big silver bell.

Sounded whenever one of the estimated 1,800 job seekers got an employment offer or set up an interview, the bell was a touch worthy of a Frank Capra movie, said Frank Filipek, director of the Camden County One-Stop Resource Center, which organized the event, hosted by the county freeholders.

"It's almost like when an angel got its wings in It's a Wonderful Life," Filipek said amid the bustle at the Grand Ballroom in Collingswood. "And it reminds us all why we're here."

But Barrett, a job-fair volunteer from Collingswood who also was seeking work as an event planner, had not actually scored a permanent job, or even a line on one. Her jubilation was a response to scoring a spot on a list, with up to 100 others, for possible temporary work - most likely for a Black Friday sale - and for a promise from the rep from the agency, Labor Ready, that he would try hard to find her work after that.

"Right now," said another manager, who declined to be identified, "people are just excited about finding something to do . . . I have people sleeping in cars coming into my branches."

During the four hours of the fair, prospective applicants - many of whom were bused in from Camden - visited 85 tables. They networked with potential employers ranging from Home Depot to the Gloucester Township Police Department and honed job-hunting skills, such as resumé writing and dressing appropriately for interviews.

Paul Davenport, a former Gloucester City resident who has been living at a homeless shelter in Camden for the last month with his three school-aged sons, was seeking "any basic labor."

Lester Hopkins of Palmyra, laid off by Coca-Cola this year just short of his 65th birthday, was job-hunting but still hoping to be called back to his plant. "They left me hanging on a string," he said.

Those searching for health-care positions seemed to fare better.

Tamiyah Hairston, a certified nursing assistant from Camden, had just rung the bell after scoring an interview when she received a job offer over the phone from Genesis HealthCare in Cinnaminson.

"I was praying," said Hairston, a single mother who turns 24 next week. "This is a wonderful birthday gift."

Nurse recruiter Michelle Mullins of the NBN Group in Cherry Hill, who had offered Hairston the interview, said that last year, she hired four nurses she met at the county's job fair.

Many of the companies represented, however, did not accept applications, instead directing job seekers to apply on their websites. That irked Hilaire Pehlert of Merchantville, who is unemployed after 30 years of working in health care.

"Everybody we spoke to said, 'Apply online,' " Pehlert said. "So what's the point of them being here if that's all they're going to do?"

Pehlert's friend Mary Canzano, of Pennsauken, was among the lucky. She emerged with a solid job offer from Mount Laurel-based marketing firm Atkinson Hunt to work in its call center. Not only does the 52-year-old intend to accept, but she got the offer from company president David Atkinson himself, who came to the fair hoping to fill three slots immediately.

"Eighty percent of my workforce are women over 50," said Atkinson, who said he was impressed with Canzano's work ethic and her voice.

As they pulled out of the ballroom's parking lot at lunchtime, Canzano and Pehlert were off to Five Guys for burgers - Canzano's treat.