The University of Massachusetts held its first annual on-the-spot hiring event on Wednesday at Hampshire Dining Commons from 11a.m. to 6 p.m. Another hiring event will be held on Thursday.

The hallway inside of Hampshire Dining Commons welcomed its visitors with a table full of paperwork, a UMass banner hanging on the table and a sign that said “welcome” in different languages.

Standing behind the table were three students ready to assist the applicants with any questions or concerns. Amanda Pamphile, a junior public health major, was one of the students working the event.

“It hasn’t been busy much here but there are people coming in to fill out the paperwork and getting interviews with managers,” Pamphile said.

The event was designed to streamline the dining halls’ hiring process. Applicants got an on-the-spot interview with a manager and the chance of being hired on-site.

In order to get an interview, applicants needed to present a government issued ID and fill out the necessary paperwork. Anyone interested in applying could also take paperwork home and fill it out at their convenience.

“It is a great opportunity for students to get a job as it is pretty convenient to come and get an on-spot interview,” said Emma Viglas, a senior psychology and business major who assisted during the event.

The hiring events are, in part, an effort to funnel in workers to dining halls that have been struggling to keep their facilities staffed. UMass’ dining halls have experienced labor shortages this semester, with a limited number of workers to feed an enormous body of college students.

Simon Stevenson, senior manager for training and development in compliance programs at UMass, has been helping out in these recruitment efforts. As a result of this hiring event, “We have been able to speed up the background check that people have to go through,” Stevenson said.

“We have had more people coming in looking for full-time job opportunities than student applicants,” he added.

The event has been advertised all around the campus and on social media accounts such as on their Instagram @umassdining page and their UMass Dining Facebook page.

“Overall, it has been a very positive experience with a lot of people generating interest,” Stevenson said.

Another on-site hiring event will be hosted on Thursday at Berkshire Dining Commons from 11a.m. to 6 p.m.

Alexey Mozyaev can be reached at [email protected].