The parking lot of the Ameristar Employment Center was overflowing Saturday during the casino’s job fair.

Vice President and General Manager Gerad Hardy said the casino was looking to hire more than 70 people and he estimated more than 150 people had stopped in to apply before the event ended.

“We’re looking for people today in casino operations, food and beverage operations, hotel operations, really the full gambit of positions — some full time, some part time, some requiring experience, some didn’t require experience,” he said.

Hardy said some of the more exciting positions available were for experienced dealers.

“Whether that’s a poker dealer or a table games dealer, we were looking for some great candidates to come in,” he said. “We’re offering up to a $300 signing bonus for those individuals.”

Some people left the job fair with new positions, Hardy said.

“Today was really focused on job interviews, and for the right candidates that we were really impressed with, we’ve made on the spot job offers,” he said. “We’ve already closed many, many positions.”

Hardy said in addition to the 70-plus individuals Ameristar is looking to hire, the company already employs more than 700 people.

“Those people work throughout the region here in Central Mississippi,” he said. “We want to be able to share this opportunity with the people that work and play and live here in Central Mississippi, so we think it’s important to continue to provide opportunities as our growth allows. We’re very optimistic about our future and how we will continue to grow in Vicksburg.”

Hardy said the turnout at the job fair on a cold and rainy day speaks to the company’s reputation of being an employer of choice in the community.

“Ameristar has been here for almost 21 years and has been a stable employer for 21 years, and I think that speaks to our reputation here in the community,” he said. “We’ve been here a long time. One of the things I think we’re all proud of here is we’re proud to be a part of the fabric of the community.”

Hardy said there are a lot of people in the region looking for jobs.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to offer so many jobs in Vicksburg,” he said. “It speaks to our growth and speaks to our forward thinking that we want to be a big part of the community and a very successful business.”

One of the applicants, Jennifer Williams, said she heard about the job fair on Facebook.

Williams said she used to work at Ameristar and she had the opportunity to serve in three different roles as she worked her way up the ladder.

“I had an opportunity to move up with them, and that’s why I liked Ameristar,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons why I came back.”

Williams said she prefers the job fair environment to the traditional method of applying for jobs.

“I like the fact that they’re doing on the spot job interviews,” she said. “They’re helping a lot of people to find employment because there’s so many jobs available.”

Williams said she saw a lot of cars and she thinks there was a good turnout despite the rain.

“I was paying attention to the different areas people have come from, and it’s not just Vicksburg,” she said.

Hardy said applications are kept on file for six months, so if someone doesn’t fit with a position currently available there’s a chance they will get a call back in the future.

“We always encourage people to go to www.ameristar.com,” he said. “They can fill out their application right online. That helps us expedite it, and that goes into our system and we call back interviews based on that. So we really can take in applications 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

If applicants would prefer to drop off an application in person, they can do so at the Ameristar Employment Center from 9 a.m. to 6 pm. every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Tuesday.