vice chairman william kelley says he held off replacing them because sales had been choppy. bute's ready to hire again since sales began rebounding five months ago. he thinks the trend will continue. >> i think it's more of a gut feel. we feel the pulse of the business day to day, and if it's good we'll hire them. >> reporter: kelley also wants to snatch up the best possible candidates. john challenger, from the outsourcing firm challenger, gray, and christmas, says now's the time to do it. >> they've got a lot of people who want the job. they've got a lot of measurement tools today to really seek out the best people. so, holding a job fair, sifting through hundreds of people to find the very best, is good business. >> reporter: the brief interviews jelly belly managers conducted at the job fair let them size up each applicant for second interviews. scott kaley hopes to be among them. how do you think it went today? >> about the same as always. i hope i hear something back. >> reporter: kelly says he'll consider adding more workers if sales at jelly belly continue to improve