More than 70 companies and organizations gathered at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall Wednesday to recruit job candidates.

Career Expo 2021, presented by the Honolulu Star- Advertiser and U.S. Vets, returned as an in-person event for the first time since 2019, after the past three expos took place virtually. Entry to the event required registration, and proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test.

The Expo, which featured organizations like Spectrum and Hawaii Gas, attracted over 1,300 registrants, with 800 attending, including Eli Jor, who has been searching for a job for the past few years.

“Talking to people face to face, I think, gets a lot more done than just online interactions,” Jor said. “When you’re online looking for jobs, you’re just filling out applications and not actually going to the stores and meeting the people, and sometimes, you never get a response. It’s been hard.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, the state’s unemployment rate has risen significantly. In June, Hawaii’s unemployment rate was 7.7%, compared to the national rate of 5.9%.

ProService Hawaii, a human resources administrator supporting local businesses, has been hiring throughout the pandemic and received more applicants over the past year, said talent acquisition and people operations manager Tyler Tuipulotu.

“I think the biggest struggle that we’ve been facing is just trying to find the right applicants. Usually, the type of talent that we look for, they’re usually either currently employed or a lot of people are still on unemployment and wanting to continue to receive their benefits before they return back,” Tuipulotu said. “At this point, we’re trying every avenue that we can.”

For tour company Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, the pandemic resulted in a temporary closure, but as tourism in the islands increases again, the company began to see a need for new workers. According to human resources business partner Cassidy Schindler, in-person recruiting is a “really integral part” of the hiring process.

“There’s just more connection that can be made, so it’s a really valuable piece of the process,” Schindler said. “We’re really glad that this Expo happened and we’re grateful to be a part of it.”

Kristin Onaga had been looking for a job for the past month, and applied online to multiple restaurants, including Hula Grill Waikiki, who told her to come to the Career Expo, where it would be holding in-person interviews.

“I interviewed here, and I got a job. It was really fast,” Onaga said. “I think it was helpful that (the Career Expo) was in-person and you get to interact with people.”

Caroline Nightingale, Hula Grill Waikiki’s assistant general manager, said it was important for the company to take the opportunity to meet with candidates and do interviews while they were at the Expo, even if they had never heard of the restaurant before.

“Sometimes it’s really hard to make it all the way down into Waikiki, and anytime we meet a great person, we’re going to do what we can to share what we have to offer and get them to be a part of our team,” Nightingale said. “We really just look for people that are here and want to come and work, and are looking for a new opportunity.”

The next Career Expos will take place virtually on Oct. 27 and 28.