In the end, many came, and more than half put their bets on securing a dealer's job yesterday at the Marina Bay Sands.
Over 6,000 people turned up yesterday at the integrated resort's (IR) two-day job fair, which ends today, at Suntec City Convention Centre.
Up for grabs are over 1,000 positions as dealers for the resort's casino. Over 3,500 applications were received yesterday.
The resort had said its earlier efforts to fill 4,500 gaming vacancies had seen only 2,000 of these jobs taken up.
Mr Ken Davie, senior vice-president for casino operations at Marina Bay Sands, said: 'We remain focused on hiring locals and thank Singaporeans for their interest in working for us.
'In the coming months, we will roll out other recruitment activities to attract Singaporeans to work in our premier integrated resort, including non-gaming positions such as hotel operations.'
For its position of dealer, candidates need to be above 21 years old, have manual dexterity, customer service and simple arithmetic skills, and not be colour-blind.
The starting pay is $1,800 before tips and three months' training is provided.
Jobseekers yesterday said that they had not gone to Marina Bay Sands' previous job fairs as there was insufficient publicity about the events.
'There was not much information about the job fair, and I found out about it only by reading The Straits Times,' technical officer Charlie Chong, 24, said.
Others were there out of curiosity.
'I came to take a look at what positions are being offered. I haven't decided if I will submit an application,' said Ms Elaine Chew, 31, currently unemployed.
Still, once the crowds started coming, many did submit application forms.
Many were excited about being part of a new industry.
Mr John Ng, 24, who is currently unemployed, said he faced a little resistance from his parents due to the unfavourable perception they had about casino jobs.
'I understand their reservations, but I feel that this is a new field in Singapore. The career advancement should be quite good and it's exciting,' he said.
Mr Ong Cho Meng, 52, also currently unemployed, feels that this makes an exciting change from his previous job in the engineering sector.
'As there are so many vacancies, I feel I have a better chance of getting this job. This is also a new venture by a big establishment and I would love to be a part of it as one of the pioneers,' he said.
The fair continues today.
Singapore's other integrated resort, Resorts World at Sentosa, said it had started hiring earlier and did not face hiring difficulties.
However, about 30 per cent of the Sentosa IR's hires for the dealer post so far are foreigners.
