The State Street store opens in July as part of the company's plan to attract more urban residents. Indicators show the economy is slowing down, and that means the competition is heating up. Thousands of people applied online for those 300 jobs. From that batch, Target selected the people to interview on Friday. All interviews are appointment only.
Marisol Campos, who just got her college degree, is one of those hoping for a job.
"It's been really hard because everybody asks for more experience, 5 to 10 years, and it's hard because they don't give you the chance," Campos said.
"All hourly positions we'll be filling today, including supervisor and all the positions throughout the store, so cashiering, on the sales floor, logistics," Ray'n Baker said. Baker is the executive team leader of human resources at Target.
Mike Quinn will manage the new store. He said, "What that spin is catered to is really the urban guest, and really get them what they need to last throughout the week."
Kathy Paulus was hired by Target just four weeks ago and hopes to help others to the same.
"It's good to kind of get into the community like this and be able offer up some jobs that are probably going to take them further than they probably even know," Kathy Paulus, Target guest services supervisor, said.
The job fair comes as figures from the U.S. Labor Department show that U.S. employers created 49,000 fewer jobs than first thought. Also, the unemployment rate edged up for the first time in 11 months.
Mellody Hobson of Ariel Investments says despite the signs that the economy is slowing down, job seekers shouldn't panic.
"When we talk to management teams, the people running American companies, overall they feel about things. They may be being very conservative and hoarding their cash, and waiting for all the dust to settle, which is why we haven't seen that jobs number improve, but overall, it's good," Mellody Hobson, Ariel Investments, said.
Charles Weaver hopes Hobson is right.
"The only way to find a job is to look on the streets everyday and be persistent with it," Weaver said.
The Target job fair wraps up Saturday with the final scheduled interviews.
