NWS PDS Page
General Information on PDS
The Professional Development Series (PDS) is a concept adopted by the National Weather Service to provide a framework for its training program. Each PDS corresponds to a specific job responsibility and describes and defines what is means to perform competently for that job responsibility. The concept helps NWS personnel to focus on what they should be able to do. The PDS document combines both scientific and technical understanding with professional skills and techniques. Each PDS series is based on developing a performance capability to support user products and services.
Each PDS is composed of a series of Professional Competency Units (PCU) which describe specific job duties. The PCU document has several components:
The basic idea behind the PDS concept is that if an individual who needs to perform a specific job responsibility (PDS) has a weakness or deficiency in some job duty (PCU), he/she can easily find a training package (instructional component or IC) to bring his/her performance back to where it should be. The delivery methods used for each IC can vary from residence courses to teletraining to CD-ROM to web-based instruction.