Quicken Loans job fair.JPG

Applicants fill the lobby of the Qube Building at a job fair in downtown Detroit Saturday.

(Gus Burns | MLive Detroit)

An estimated 2,000 applied for 500 job openings at Quicken Loans in the Qube building in Downtown Detroit Saturday.

DETROIT — The names of Quicken Loans job applicants aired over the loud speaker from the hip, bright colored eighth-floor of the Qube building, a modern coffee shop with a large projector-screen TV, where smoothies and piping java are on the menu.

"Come to the Candy bar," the voice said, and people of all ages, races and walks of life approached the Willy Wonka-like counter filled with colorful spherical candies, their resumes in hand, and were sent off for an interview.

Dan Gilbert-founded Quicken Loans on Saturday expected to interview up to 2,000 job seekers to fill nearly 500 technology, servicing, operations and mortgage banking jobs within its family of companies.

Some would be hired on the spot. Others can expect followup interviews, said Spokeswoman Jennifer Rass, a 3-year employee of the company.

The job fair began at 10 a.m. for military veterans and their families, a segment the company hopes to hire more of.

Nearly 100 recruiters interviewed an estimated 2,000 applicants for 500 jobs onthe seventh floor of the Qube building in Detroit Saturday.

Others began arriving at 11 a.m. The entire first-floor lobby of the former Chase Tower building at 611 Woodward in Detroit's financial district was full of applicants by 11:15 a.m., some in suits, others in sweatshirts and jeans. The line, at times, stretched out the door.

Among them is 23-year-old DiMario Breedlove, who's perusing various job opportunities. He started his job search Friday.

Breedlove attends school for aviation engineering but says anything is a step up from his current job at McDonald's.

"I just got a raise," he says. "I'm making about $7.80" per hour.

Breedlove hoped recruiters would recognize his traits as a hard worker and quick learner.

"My attitude is consistent," he said. "And I want to be the best I can be and make the company the best it can be."

Sarah Ezell, 24, of Southgate, is a U.S. Army reservist and former military police officer who oversaw detainees during a 10-month stint in Afghanistan.

Ezell manages a family-owned bowling alley in Trenton, but with a budding family, a daughter and husband, she's looking for something different and a little more consistent.

She's hoping for a customer service or security job and expects to hear back from a recruiter within a week to find out if she moves forward in the hiring process.

The company began having these job fairs when the company was still based in Livonia.

"In Detroit, it's a big deal, so we wanted to make sure we really did it right," said Michelle Salvatore, the director of recruiting. "We want to really show off our space and make sure people really understand who we are.

"A lot of times when we walk people through out space, they don't get it at first."

Salvatore said the company seeks one trait in its "team members" above all others.

"We're looking for someone who had passion and heart," she said. "That's really attractive to us.

"They can come in with very little skill set and be phenomenal here... It's who you are and what you can do... Most of the recruiters would prefer not event to look at a resume before they speak with someone.

There were about 100 recruiters on hand Saturday.

Applicants spent between an hour and an hour and a half going through the "engaging and fun" job fair process, Salvatore said.

The company is receiving a lot more applications from college graduates, older applicants looking for a career change and job hopefuls with a strong finance background, said Salvatore.

Quicken Loans and its companies employ nearly 10,000 people nationally, including 7,600 in Detroit.