Navy Medicine hosted its first series of civilian workforce development workshops at Defense Health Headquarters, Sept. 14-16.

The six workshops were the first in a series hosted by Navy Medicine's office of civilian workforce development.

"The workshops are one way we're investing in the civilian community to increase their job satisfaction and professional growth," said James Perkins, lead, community of interest, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) civilian workforce development. "We are making this effort to ensure the civilian workforce continues to grow with the command and grow with the mission."

For three days, civilian and military employees at all stages of their careers participated in several human resource workshops focused on career development within the federal government.

"The workshops focused on personal empowerment to help employees take charge of their career," Perkins said. "We wanted to provide the information employees should know to help them progress no matter where they are in their career."

Workshop topics included navigating different career paths, navigating USAJobs.gov, interviewing, understanding a multigenerational workforce, position descriptions and staffing for hiring managers.

"After attending the first workshop I knew I needed to come back for the rest," said Jennifer Seals, financial management analyst, BUMED. "There were a number of things I learned today that I didn't know before about the civilian workforce system."

The workshops were part of Navy Medicine's ongoing efforts to develop the civilian workforce and provide the necessary tools and resources for continued professional development.

"These workshops show Navy Medicine is truly invested in my development and my growth," Seals said.

The Navy Medicine civilian workforce development office will continue to host workshops as part of a three-part approach to civilian career development, which includes leadership development, education and skills training, and community interest.

The next Navy Medicine civilian workforce development workshop in late September will focus on high-performing teams.

Navy Medicine is a global health care network of 63,000 personnel that provides health care support to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, their families and veterans, in high operational-tempo environments, at expeditionary medical facilities, medical treatment facilities, hospitals, clinics, hospital ships and research units around the world.


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For more news from Navy Medicine, visit http://www.navy.mil/.