Hundreds of people of various ages came to the Moraine Valley Community College Job Resource Center Spring Job Fair on Thursday with resumes in hand hoping that one of the 40-plus employers there would give them a call.

“I brought resumes and handed them out to whomever I could,” said Orland Park’s Laura Slak, who has been out of work for a year and a half. “I’m trying to be positive.”

A wide range of employers – including the United States Army, the Orland Fire Protection District, Target, Chipolte, Cardinal Fitness and the Chicago Police Department – showed up with open positions.

(PHOTOS: Job fair draws hundreds.)

Moraine Job Resource Director Pamela Payne said this event in the past, along with some other job-assisted programs at the school, has produced some happy endings.

“You always read in the paper about how there are no jobs,” Payne said. “Well, here are 40 or so employers who have jobs available. These are employers that maybe the job seeker won’t have access to. They get to meet with somebody face to face.”

Orland Park’s Tina Adams, who has been out of work for two years after working as a district manager for Stitch it USA, said she appreciated the variety of available employers at the fair.

“I’m trying to discover what are the other avenues out there, and what the market is like,” she said.

Oak Lawn’s Charlotte Ambrose, who is looking for teaching work after working in the banking field, said she is in the “45-to-55 age range where they say you are the first fired and the last hired.’’

But she doesn’t go to these fairs with a defeatist attitude.

“You have to look in the mirror and say ‘I am a great asset to a company,;” she said. “You hope that someone will look in your eyes and say, ‘This person is reliable. This person is loyal and has experience.’ You have to be positive.”