While they all were there to find a job, each of the more than 300 visitors to a job fair in Suffolk on Friday had a unique story to tell.

Shelesa Olds and Precious Southall, attending the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Virginia Employment Commission event at King’s Fork Middle School, strode together confidently up and down the rows of tables.

Olds was looking to return to work after spending some time at home to take care of her infant son. “Now I’m looking to get back into it,” she said.

Her several previous jobs included a call center and the Smithfield packing plant. But Olds is looking for a desk job now. “Administrative,” she elaborated.

A little after noon, she had been at the event for about an hour and a half, scheduling one interview so far — for work as a patient care representative.

Southall has been keeping herself busy and earning some money as a Zumba instructor. “I’m trying to get another job to get more income,” she said.

A receptionist, behind the counter in a bank — those are the kinds of gigs Southall has in mind. She’d managed to schedule an interview with the same company as her friend.

“Another lady said she was going to give us a call,” Southall said. “People are nice. Friendly.”

Edward Askew and Ashley Ward sat next to one another filling out applications to pack pork products for Smithfield Foods. Job and Career Expo organizer Mike Smith — resident services coordinator with the authority — said the company hired a couple of people during the morning after onsite interviews.

“They said they weren’t doing any more interviews today, but she told one girl she was going to call her for an interview,” Ward said.

Askew, who worked at Target’s distribution center until about a month ago, said he was applying for a job on Smithfield’s “kill floor.”

“It’s kind of up and down,” he said of the local job market.

Gary Weaver was looking for an operations management job. “It could be peanuts, pork, timber — anywhere running a finished product from a raw material,” he said.

Weaver was upbeat, saying, “There’s jobs out there. It’s not bad — not bad at all.”

Brian Mitchell was looking for work in his degree field — network security — or, alternatively, a second job to supplement what he’s currently earning at Pizza Hut.

“I just heard they were having this expo, and I’m just looking around to see if there’s anything,” Mitchell said.

Renee Sandifer, representing Essential Family Services, was one of about 60 participants this year on the other side of the table, up from about 45 in previous years. She was looking for direct care professionals to support the intellectually disabled.

“We’re looking for 20 to 25 right now in Hampton Roads,” she said, adding she had scheduled five interviews since the job fair’s 10 a.m. start.

“That’s pretty good,” she said. “Most of the time when we go to a job fair, we don’t end up scheduling that many. We may have one.”

Smith said that 300 jobseekers had passed through the doors by 11 a.m. “I’m amazed at the turnout again,” he said.

What does that tell him? “People still need jobs right now.”