Mill Basin is ready to work.
Thousands of New Yorkers queued up at Kings Plaza for the shopping center’s Oct. 17 Job Fair, where job hunters waited for more than an hour for a shot at working for one of the mall’s many retailers.
“People started showing up at 8 o’clock and, by the time I got there, the line was wrapped around the corner, around the aisle, and then back towards the corner again,” said Alicia Deflorimonte, from Canarsie. “I think I waited an hour, and the line only got longer since I got there.”
More than 5,000 job hunters competed for 1,200 positions amidst 37 recruiters, including clothing stores Charlotte Russe and Aldo Shoes, along with electronic retailers Best Buy and Gamestop.
The event was certainly crowded, but Kings Plaza staff did their best to compartmentalize and expedite the process, and setup areas on the second floor where job seekers could pick up and fill out applications, before meeting with their prospective employers.
“It was well run,” said Elizabel Solages of Flatbush, who’s now waiting for call backs from Victoria Secret and Charlotte Russe.
Some folks, like Solages, may have to wait a week or more to find out whether they their applications passed muster, but others were given jobs on the spot, according to Chelsea Tokarz, Kings Plaza’s administrative assistant in marketing and leasing development.
Other retailers were hiring for positions inside Kings Plaza and at other locations across the city.
This isn’t Kings Plaza’s first Job Fair, although the shopping center has plans to ramp up its hiring events and host two fairs per year, according to Tokarz.
