SAN DIEGO –Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) successfully connected with hundreds of local healthcare professionals during a civilian hiring fair on April 29, resulting in over 20 on-the-spot tentative job offers and hundreds of other potential candidates to fill critical medical positions.
The event, held at Laurus College in Chula Vista, Calif., vastly surpassed initial goals. The fair ultimately drew 295 attendees—nearly triple the command's original target of 100. This strong turnout highlighted the highly effective nature of traditional media outreach; following a segment on local news station KUSI, event registrations surged from approximately 100 to 490.
"The onsite excitement was palpable from both the attendees and our staff," said Capt. Jodi Phillips, NMCSD director of resource management. "The turnout and interaction validated the need to expand advertising beyond passive job posting boards at venues that have the ability to quickly connect with individuals and hire on the spot."
The fair aimed to fill approximately 217 civil service vacancies, with many of the targeted hires directly supporting five critical CORE projects. Directed by the Defense Health Agency (DHA), the CORE initiative is a strategic effort to optimize resources, increase patient access to care, and enhance medical readiness across military treatment facilities. At NMCSD, this DHA mandate is driving five major capability expansions: Primary Care Stabilization and Expansion, Inpatient Expansion, Inpatient Behavioral Health Expansion, Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation Program (SARP) Expansion, and Operating Room Optimization.
The command sought qualified applicants for the full spectrum of advertised roles, including Physicians, Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Practical Nurses, Nursing Assistants, Computed Tomography (CT) Technologists, Interventional Radiology Technologists, Behavioral Health Providers, Medical/Health Technicians, and various Hospital Support positions. The high turnout of qualified candidates allowed hiring managers to conduct on-site interviews and extend 21 tentative job offers (TJOs) by the end of the day.
Brittany Fuller, a psychiatric certified nursing assistant who received a TJO during the event, expressed her gratitude for the streamlined process.
“I am incredibly grateful to have taken part in this hiring fair," said Fuller. "Being able to meet the hiring representatives in person made the process so efficient and really showed how much they value their applicants. I am looking forward to joining the NMCSD team and having the opportunity to support the mental health and well-being of our service members and their families.”
Annie Rushing, chief of the Human Resource Oversight Branch for the Defense Health Agency's J-1 Human Capital Division, was thoroughly impressed by the command's ability to put together a hiring event with such little advanced time.
"This is a testament to Capt. Phillips and her team of dedicated professionals," said Rushing, noting that the event truly exceeded her expectations. "We are aggressively looking at rehiring, considering that last year there were limitations beyond our control, such as pauses and Federal hiring freezes. DHA is heavily committed to investing in NMCSD as it needs to reattract care, but we won't be able to do so without the proper personnel composition."
Rushing also pointed out an additional benefit of hosting the event at the college: many applicants were able to use the facility's computers to reference online resources and make necessary real-time adjustments to their resumes before interviewing.
Data from the event highlighted a high level of interest and qualification among attendees. Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA), Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN), and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) had a 74% conversion rate from attendance to a job offer. Nearly a quarter of all Medical Support and Health Technician attendees also received offers.
The successful outcome was the result of a coordinated effort across multiple NMCSD departments and external partners in less than three weeks, including hiring managers, the Defense Health Agency Headquarters Personnel Security Team, the Civilian Human Resources Agency (CHRA), and technical support teams.
Capitalizing on the momentum of the hiring fair, NMCSD rolled straight into a Rapid Onboarding Event (ROE) on April 30 and May 1. An ROE is a specialized administrative sprint designed to drastically reduce the traditional federal civilian time-to-hire. It consolidates human resources processing, security clearances, fingerprinting, and occupational health screenings into a single, streamlined "one-stop shop" for candidates who have accepted job offers.
Building on the blueprint of a highly successful ROE previously held at the command, this consecutive event allowed newly selected candidates—along with others already in the pipeline—to immediately begin their pre-employment requirements, bypassing weeks of typical administrative delays.
Following the success of both events, the command anticipates a continued wave of selections and official job offers will be made in the coming weeks. Leadership plans to apply lessons learned from this combined hiring fair and ROE strategy to future recruitment efforts.
“We are incredibly thankful to Laurus College for their hospitality and partnership in making this event a reality,” Phillips added. “Having a community partner open their doors and provide the space and technological resources was essential to our success.”
For those who were unable to attend, NMCSD encourages interested applicants to view all open federal civil service positions on USAJobs.gov.
The mission of NMCSD is to optimize health and enhance readiness. NMCSD employs more than 5,500 active-duty military personnel, civilians, and contractors in southern California to deliver exceptional care afloat and ashore.