The Industrial Trade Career Fair kicked off Thursday and thousands of job seekers showed up hoping to find a new opportunity.

The downturn in the oil and gas industry has left many out of work and seeking new opportunities and nearly two thousand job seekers attended the fair.

Joseph Richard has been out of work for two months, he tells News 10 this isn’t the first time he’s been laid off either.

“I experienced it back in the 80’s when it got slow, and things just got better, then they got slow. It’s the nature of the beast.”

Richard has worked in the oil and gas industry for 30 years. He says he hopes his experience and skills can land him a job.

“I feel pretty good about it. It’s a very diverse field that they have here for today. There’s a lot of different things that they want, hopefully, it will all pan through for a lot of us.”

Mitchell Soileau has also been affected by the downturn. He has worked in oil and gas for 15 years and has been out of work for three months.

“Oh, it’s been terrible. It really has.”

Solieu says this career fair gives him some hope for the future.

“There’s a lot of big work coming up in Lake Charles with Sasol and such. I want to get my foot in the door. It’s worth coming, it’s worth coming.”

The career fair targeted laid off oil and gas workers.

The goal is to transfer their skills to the industrial sector.

Richards tells KLFY’s Carly Laing that at this point, it doesn’t matter what industry he ends up working in.

“I’m like everyone else, I’m hoping to get a job period. It’s good, I think it’s a good thing. I hope it pans out for a lot of us.”

A total of 31 companies participated in the fair.

The next major job fair will be the 21^st annual Leda Job Fair, which will be held May 10^th at the Cajun Dome Convention Center.