"As long as I get my foot in the door, I'm happy to do whatever they need me to," said job seeker Dan Kasunic of Eastlake.
View full sizeDan Kasunic of Eastlake brought a book of photos from his scuba-diving trips around the world to bolster his case that the Greater Cleveland Aquarium should hire him. Monday's job fair drew 180 people who waited hours for a chance to apply for about 45 jobs at the aquarium, which opens Jan. 21. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dan Kasunic brought his album of underwater photos to his job interview for the Greater Cleveland Aquarium to help him stand out from the other applicants.
After losing his job as an engineering technician in 2009, Kasunic started his own landscaping business.
"But I'd happily give that up to work at the aquarium," he said, flipping through close-ups of sharks, fish and brightly colored coral.
"As long as I get my foot in the door, I'm happy to do whatever they need me to."
The prospect of working with marine life and the news that the aquarium hopes to hire about 45 people in 40 days drew 180 people to a job fair at the Powerhouse building on Monday.
The aquarium, being built on the West Bank of the Flats, is looking primarily for what it calls "guest experience associates" to answer questions, keep the crowds moving and direct visitors through the museum when it opens on Jan. 21.
View full sizeDon Brackenhoff, a finance manager for the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, interviews Kate Casserlie, who drove an hour from West Farmington to apply for a job as an aquarist (someone who helps the curator take care of the fish and filtration systems). Staff members also were holding interviews for jobs in the gift shop, accounts payable, and office assistants, said recruiter Nicole Chmielewski of Employment Connection.
Of the 151 people who went through the lengthy two-step interviews, 15 were hired on the spot.
"We were overwhelmed and so grateful for the enthusiasm at the job fair today," said Tami Brown, general manager for the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.
Unemployment in the 18-county Northeast Ohio region fell to 8.5 percent last month, a notch better than the state's 8.8 percent jobless rate and the nation's 9.1 percent rate.
Updated state employment numbers come out Friday.
Chris Case of Brook Park, a former client services manager at a local audiovisual company, said she's excited about the aquarium reviving the Flats and becoming a tourist draw.
View full sizeJoseph Singleton of Cleveland waits to be called for his interview with an aquarium recruiter at a job fair on Monday afternoon. The event, which opened at 10 a.m., was packed with job seekers by 10:30, with all 70 chairs filled and others who waited more than an hour in lines against the wall for a chance to apply. She said that when she got to the job fair half an hour after it started, all the chairs were full and people were lined up against the walls around the room waiting for a chance to interview.
"They were turning people away after 12 o'clock," she said.
Jamilah Zand, who said she could walk from her home on Cleveland's West Side, likes the idea of a workplace surrounded by fish.
"I don't want to be in a real stressful environment," she said.
Deborah Kramarz of Euclid is a former Cleveland Municipal Schools teacher who was laid off in October, is hoping to get hired as the gift shop supervisor.
She would love to work with teachers bringing their students to the aquarium for field trips.
"It's so great that the aquarium is finally going up," she said. "We have such wonderful museums here and I'd like a chance to work at any of them."
Dauntell Dunlop, who works in landscaping during the summer and plows snow during the winter, wants to be one of the people who welcome visitors as they walk into the museum.
"I'm very qualified," he said. "I'm a people person. I love talking and having chats with people."
He loved visiting the old aquarium at 72nd Street and St. Clair Avenue when he was a boy, and said he can't wait to take his children to the new aquarium.
"I'll come here even if I don't get hired - that's how excited I am," he said.