Sgt. Andy Brucker, 34, of the Army Reserve, was hoping Westinghouse recruiters would be at job fair for veterans at Heinz Field yesterday.

They weren't.

Krystl King, 28, a former Naval Petty Officer, was looking for a job in information technology, but there weren't any.

And, in a statement about the current economy, Home Depot was looking for cashiers and people to help on the floor by handing out trinkets made in China.

There were seven employers at the job fair that was attended by about 175 veterans and active duty personnel. Many of those looking for work were hoping for a better corporate turnout.

The event was put together by Loveland, Ohio-based RecruitMilitary. The company charges employers to exhibit at its job fairs, which are open to members of the military, veterans and spouses of people on active duty. Job seekers are not charged.

One of those local companies, LaBarge Inc., based at Keystone Commons in East Pittsburgh, had a good day. Joe Benz, the company's operations manager in Pittsburgh, said LaBarge found a qualified machinist at the job fair, someone they need to help manufacture custom circuit boards. "We're finding quite a few people," he said.

The Veterans Administration had a raft of jobs, including 70 openings for nursing assistants. Amy Loveridge, a recruitment specialist for the VA said they need all of those people at the Aspinwall facility, but it is hard to find people who want to work with geriatric patients.

Verizon sent Angela Culbreath from Philadelphia to recruit people to work in the local call center.

Ms. King, the former petty officer from Greentree, served on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, in the European Command in London and in West Virginia.

She said none of the other job fairs she has attended had jobs that would suit her experience as a former cryptologic technician either but this one at least had the veterans benefits booths, so she felt like she was ahead at yesterday's job fair.

Sgt. Brucker, an Army Reserve broadcast journalist who developed reports from Baghdad, Iraq, had come to the job fair during his lunch break with some of his co-workers at the 99th Regional Command in Coraopolis. He said he is getting out of the military soon and is deciding between finding a job or going to graduate school.

His co-worker, Sgt. Krystal Adamosky, 26, of Slippery Rock, can go back to her job for Armstrong Cable when she gets out of the reserves, but she was glad to see representatives of The Entrepreneurs' Source. The Entrepreneurs' Source is a franchise business in which its franchise holders make money selling franchises for other businesses.

Dawn Brown, who owns an Entrepreneurs' Source franchise, said people with military training are perfect for franchises because they know how to follow rules that come with owning franchises.

For Darnell Greene, 41, of Brighton Heights, the event was a chance to connect with recruiters from the VA. Ms. Greene worked in the medical field for the Army for 15 years and yesterday was her last day after two years with the National Guard. She only needs three more years of service to qualify for her military pension, but she doesn't want to re-enlist.

Right now her daughter, Tonie Brown, 21, is a U.S. Army Sergeant serving in Iraq. Ms. Green said now is the time in her life to work a civilian job while she leaves the military service for a younger generation.