Dallas- from www.dallas.com- Unemployed, with an infant son, Bernice Williams of Dallas hasn’t found a decent-paying job since her release from prison two years ago. But on Wednesday, the 22-year-old went from “jobless to topless.”

“I tried to apply at McDonald’s,” said Williams, who served a three-year prison sentence on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Her last job at a chicken shack paid $139 a week, barely enough to cover her cellphone bill.

But at Wednesday’s “jobless to topless” job fair, hosted by strip club Cabaret Royale, she immediately landed a job.

“I’ll be nervous to get on stage,” said Williams, whose generous curves filled out a pair of Capri pants and a yellow crop sweater. But, she said, “I’m gonna get up there.”

Many applicants at the fair shared similar stories – I got laid off, I need extra money, I need to pay for my son’s soccer trip.

“We’ve got people that are looking for a job that have been looking for jobs for four months,” said Steve Craft, vice president of Dallas-based Burch Management, the group that helped organize the day’s event. The fair drew hundreds of men and women looking for jobs ranging from kitchen work to dancing at several area clubs.

Craft said that over the past several months club owners have seen an increase in applicants – some looking for a full-time position and others looking for a part-time gig to make ends meet.

“People who had not considered going into the entertainment industry are now considering it,” said Craft, who says the money and safe working environment are a draw for many applicants.

He said a dancer can make $500 to $1,500 a night. Waitresses can make $100 to $200 a shift.

While he acknowledged that some criticize the industry for exploiting women, Craft said there have been positive changes.

“In the last few years this industry has become a lot more acceptable,” he said. More couples attend clubs and women attend together because they feel comfortable, he said.

Craft says they’ll probably host another job fair. “You can never have too much help.”

The job fair was an opportunity Rakesha Mitchell of Dallas couldn’t pass up.

“I need a job,” said the 22-year-old mother of two, who applied for a waitress position.

Like many at the fair, Mitchell dressed to impress – dark skinny jeans, purple halter top, and purple pumps. Applicants weren’t required to disrobe, dance or otherwise prove their skills. They simply filled out applications and included a résumé if they had one.

Kawanna Walker, 28, of Dallas applied for a hostess position. Her job as a store clerk isn’t paying the bills.

“The Family Dollar is not good enough,” she said. “I got five kids that I raise by myself.”

Ramon Salinas, 22, of Mansfield said he didn’t care about where the job was.

“A job’s a job anyway,” said Salinas, who was laid off two months ago from a food processing company. He applied for several positions.

“It’s good money. I mean, who hates working around a bunch of girls?” said Salinas as, one by one, scantily clad women strutted to the table set up for prospective dancers, past a gaggle of TV camera crews and photographers.

The exotic applicants dressed in painted-on jeans, skin-tight pencil skirts, sexy stilettos and anything tight enough and revealing enough to display their considerable assets. That’s the point, said Aequila Ray. The better the look, the better the tips.

Just under 5 feet tall, she was a standout. Propped up on impossibly high heels, her bosom on display to the fumbling hands of a camera man trying to place a microphone on her shirt, Ray said she came to support a friend applying for a job.

“She’s from Ohio. I’m trying to introduce her to the life.”

Ray, 20, works a three-day week and makes enough money to support her young daughter and her shopping, she said, the handle of her Louis Vuitton purse resting on her forearm.

“I keep up with a pretty lavish lifestyle.”

Ray said she started dancing only a year ago and told herself it’d be a temporary gig until she found a better job. But the lifestyle and money are addictive, she admitted with a smile. “I haven’t looked for another job yet.”