SELINSGROVE -- Job-seekers lined up Thursday morning in business casual, clutching resumes and waiting for their turn to take a crack at working for the red and white.

By 9:30 a.m., just a half hour after Careerlink opened its doors to Target employee hopefuls, nearly 60 people already had interviewed for 16 management spots at the still-under-construction department store.

Sunbury resident Awilda Henry was one of a throng of job-seekers hoping, as a sign inside the center encouraged, to "see herself in red." Henry lost her job in December, when loan business Advance America closed all 66 of its Pennsylvania stores. She put her application in at Target on Thursday to net a human resources position and break seven months of unemployment.

Other applicants admitted energy prices and a struggling economy have them clamoring for jobs, although few wanted to share their names.

"My house is heated with oil, my car runs on gas and my husband works in the housing market," one woman said when asked why she'd attended Thursday's Target career fair.

Target managers were more than pleased with the day's turnout.

"We had a line out the door at 8:30 a.m.," said Target human resources director Kelly Okonski. "We were barely in the office when the phones started to ring."

Dave Hall, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, also was happy with Thursday's job rush.

"High gas prices tend to shrink the applicant pool because people aren't willing to drive quite as far. If they're getting a good group of people down there, that's encouraging," he said.

Okonski said Thursday's career fair was for Target hourly management positions only. Though Okonski would not reveal how much the positions pay, she did say they were higher paying than general Target jobs. Careerlink also will hold fairs for Target job-seekers from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Saturday.

People interested in general positions with Target will get their chance at Careerlink in Selinsgrove on Aug. 14, 15 and 16.

"There's some heavy competition here," Okonski said.

Target's Hummels Wharf department store, located in the Monroe Marketplace shopping center along Routes 11-15, will hold its grand opening on Oct. 12.

n E-mail comments to dgessel@dailyitem.com.