Hotel Jobs Ad Draws Blizzard of Applicants : Employment: Thousands line up and wait for hours in Chicago’s cold for interviews. Illinois has highest jobless rate of 11 major U.S. industrial states.

Thousands of people lined up in blowing snow and freezing temperatures Wednesday to apply for 500 positions offered by a downtown hotel.

Those in line seeking employment said they hoped that coming out in foul weather would show how eager they were to work.

“Jobs are hard to get,” said Charlie Arthur, who was the first in line and has been out of work for months. “I figured it was in my best interests” to get here early.

At 9.3%, Illinois has the highest unemployment rate among the nation’s 11 major industrial states. The national rate stands at 7.1%.

The line began forming in front of the Sheraton Chicago Hotel at 7 a.m. for interviews scheduled to began at 9.

The hotel, expected to open in March, had advertised the job interviews in local papers for about a month. Positions include servers, dishwashers, managers and an accountant. Pay ranges from minimum wage to $10 an hour.

“We expected a lot of people, due to the economic conditions in Chicago,” said Ellen Butler, a spokeswoman for the hotel.

But after more than 2,000 people showed up by noon, making the line stretch down the block from the hotel, security guards were ordered to turn away further applicants.

“They knew there’d be a crowd, but I don’t think they expected this,” said Pat McCarthy, an off-duty Chicago police officer who had been hired to provide additional security. “It’s like Disneyland: You have to wait in line a while, hoping to get the ride of your life.”

The job-seekers complained of standing in line for up to three hours to get into the building. The temperature in downtown Chicago at 12:30 p.m. was 14 degrees, with the wind chill making it feel like minus-5 degrees and the blowing snow reducing visibility.

“I must be crazy,” Carole Miller said. “I thought I was going to come out and find a better job. I’ve been waiting out here for two hours, and when you get in there, they say it’s still going to take two hours for a four-to-five-minute interview.”

Butler said the hotel could not allow the entire crowd inside because of construction.

“We were able to accommodate more than a 1,000 people indoors,” she said. “And after we determined that the snow was continuing and temperatures were supposed to continue to drop, we decided to ask people to come back another day.”

Several minor scuffles broke out as the crowd tried to move inside, McCarthy said. Some people decided to leave after the crowd began to get testy.