Bogdan Popa was feeling discouraged at a September job fair at Boulevard Mall. He was out of work, and he wanted to stand out among job-seekers by meeting recruiters in person.

Instead, he kept being directed to online applications. The job search was making him depressed, he said.

“This is the first time I’ve been in a situation where things are almost impossible,” the Las Vegas resident said. “When you apply for a job, you either go in person so they can see you — but whereas you go online, they don’t know you.”

Popa said he lost a job as an HVAC technician during a probationary period and has been looking for work in that field or in energy assessment, warehousing or security. He guessed he’s applied to up to 20 positions since he became unemployed, including some roles he found at t

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