In button-down shirts and Windsor-knotted ties, polished pumps and skirts knee-length or longer, 700-odd area students got a taste of real-world job-hunting Tuesday during a career expo at Suffolk’s Hilton Garden Inn.

Organized by the Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education, part of Suffolk Public Schools, the event furnished students with valuable experience, providing face-to-face mock interviews with about 60 representatives of actual employers.

While the students had already experienced mock interviews in the classroom, the expo involved an added dimension of reality, said Gail Bess, Suffolk Public Schools’ coordinator of career and technical education as well as adult education.

“Today’s event is to bring them out to meet representatives of industry — they call them the ‘real people,’” Bess said.

Students who attend the Pruden Center For Industry and Technology were the first to circulate through the large room with prospective employers seated behind rows of tables.

Nansemond River High School senior Janeen Griffith, who also takes classes at the Pruden Center, plans to style hair part-time while studying to become a medical assistant.

“It’s going pretty well,” she said between interviews. “People are very friendly and they give tips to help you better yourself for the future.”

Employer representatives, including Stephen Giannetti of Portsmouth-based environmental consultancy Metropolitan Laboratories, were generally impressed with what they saw.

“The students that we have seen would make very good job applicants, I think,” Giannetti said.

“I think they’ve had some good basic courses — they can use some polishing in terms of confidence and interviewing, but that’s because they have never interviewed before.”

Waddell & Reed Financial Advisors’ Mike Barclift believed the students were “well-dressed,” adding, “They had résumés (in order) and I would credit their teachers and the Pruden Center — I think their program is definitely heading in the right direction.”

Students were provided with feedback immediately after each interview. Bess said the process helped them tweak their performance from one interview to the next.

“Some students might step away into a corner (to consider the feedback) before going back into the next interview,” she said.

“Sometimes it might be something like they need a stronger handshake. Sometimes they might chew gum on a regular basis and not realize they’re still chewing.”

Some students gained something extra from the experience, according to Bess. “Sometimes they might get a job offer or a follow-up interview,” she said.

Pruden Center Director Corey McCray said the career expo should serve the young people well in their future endeavors.

“It’s certainly an opportunity for students to have a real-world experience in interviewing and preparing for securing employment in fields for which they have been training,” he said.