It’s getting harder for Hawaii employers to find good help.

With the state’s jobless rate now tied for the second lowest in the nation at 2.8 percent, about 150 employers set up booths Wednesday at the Neal Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall hoping to find a few good men and women.

“The market is very driven right now by the employees. It’s their market. They have many opportunities,” said Lynn Hiyane, clerical and technical personnel manager for ALTRES Staffing. “For us, candidates go quickly. So if we have a good candidate and we send them out, clients are hiring them on the spot when they’re good. Sometimes they call us back the next day and the candidate’s gone already. So there’s not too much time to make a decision.”

Hiyane said pay rates also are starting to increase a little.

“Companies and clients have to be a little bit more accommodating now to the employees because they have so many options,” she said. “We’re seeing a little bit more like flex schedules, maybe certain days you can leave early to pick up your children, things like that.”

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, ALTRES Staffing and Monster.com sponsored the Career Expo.

For Ray Andrade, 37, of Aina Haina, the expo was a feeling-out process as he prepares to leave the Army after a 20-year career.

“I’m kind of open to whatever field is available,” he said.

Andrade said his skill set as a combat engineer doesn’t necessarily apply to the civilian world. As a combat engineer, he said he was responsible for controlling mobility and counter mobility by creating obstacles on the battlefield.

“The skill set I’ll be using from combat engineer to get a job is about managing resources and personnel — the overall leadership aspect of it,” he said.

University of Hawaii sophomore Marisa Alderman, 22, of Aiea, said she took advantage of the free Star-Advertiser promotion with UH to gain entry to the expo.

Alderman, who is majoring in computer science and graphic design, said she’s still not sure of her career path.

“The job market is easier compared to before in 2013 when I originally tried looking for a career,” she said. “There are a lot more options than I thought there were — there’s concierge service, there’s banking options … Hopefully, I’ll find an internship for my junior year or find a different career path that I might like.”

Gary Scheuring, director of training and development for the Cutter Automotive Training Center, said it’s been a challenge trying to find enough people.

“We have five locations to service and so finding enough people to keep all our stores fully staffed has been a challenge the last few years,” he said. “So we have to attend these job fairs … and consider it just a numbers game trying to talk to enough people, and weed through the ones that will and won’t work.”

Danielle Muffat, HR manager for Bloomingdale’s in Honolulu, said the Ala Moana Center store hired about 250 people when it opened on Nov. 12, 2015. Now, she said, she has eight more positions to fill.

“It is a challenge,” she said. “There’s a lot of employers and recruiters out there looking. But we have a great culture and a great benefit structure and our store family just feels like a family. So I think we have some competitive benefits and some reasons to join Bloomingdale’s.”

For Eleonora Bacsoka, 58, of Honolulu, it’s a language barrier that has made finding a job difficult. She’s looking to be a spa attendant, work for transportation company Roberts Hawaii, or be a showroom server or showroom hostess.

“It’s not easy to find a job because everywhere in Honolulu you need to be bilingual and speak Japanese and English,” said Bacsoka, who moved here a year ago from Hungary where she taught art and geography in elementary school. “I feel bad about that because I speak Hungarian and English. I can’t speak Japanese.”

Patrick Klein, vice president of advertising for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, said there are still a lot of people looking for jobs despite the low unemployment rate because some workers are seeking better or different positions.

“The number of employers at the expo is increasing because everyone’s having a challenging time finding that employee,” he said. “They know that, so they need to be in front of them.”