How to Complete a Position Description Questionnaire

A Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) is a document used to gather information and duties of a position.

There are two sections of a PDQ that must be completed and submitted to your agency's Human Resource Manager. Whether you are an employee or supervisor, find out how to accurately complete a PDQ.

Employee’s Section
Supervisor’s Section

Please contact the Bureau of Human Resources at 605.773.3148 or by email if you need assistance or have questions.

Employee's Section

All information in this section of the PDQ should be prepared by you and put in your own words, without the aid of the class specification or existing PDQs. You may receive assistance from your supervisor.

Position Description Questionnaire - Employee's Section

Please refer to one of the parts below for a more detailed description of how to complete each section of the PDQ.

Part A – Personal Data: If you do not know your position number, ask your supervisor or your personnel representative.
– Under Work Location, include the street address and building name and/or number where you are located.
– Be sure to complete all of this information.

Part B – Duties: Please break your job into two or more major job functions or areas of responsibility. The following are examples of how to complete the Duties section of the PDQ.

1. Major Area of Responsibility: Functions as a crew leader during fire and rescue activities to ensure effective fire and rescue procedures are carried out.

Percent of Time: Percentages are an estimation of the amount of time spent performing the responsibilities and all together should equal 100 percent.

Specific Tasks within Area of Responsibility: Directs vehicle response and positioning; directs fire fighting activities, confinement, and extinguishing; directs crew involvement in overhaul and rescue activities.

Problems or Challenges: Determining whether to fight or withdraw from a fire situation.

Decisions You Make: Making individual assignments to crew members.

Decisions You Refer to Your Supervisor: Program planning, policy interpretation, and training plans approval.

Physical Requirements or Hazardous Conditions: Work under emergency conditions which may include strenuous exertion and in smoke or cramped surroundings.

1. Major Area of Responsibility: Organizes fire protection activities to ensure effective fire protection.

Specific Tasks within the area of Responsibility: Plans and schedules facility inspections; coordinates fire protection activities with other staff and agencies; enforces fire prevention practices; detects fire hazards.

Problems and Challenges: Detecting unusual fire hazards; getting others to understand fire safety requirements.

Decisions You Make: What equipment and personnel to use in various situations; what agencies to contact during emergencies; format and content of operational plans.

Decisions You Refer to Your Supervisor: Coordinating fire department functions with other agencies; setting policies and procedures.

Physical Requirements or Hazardous Conditions: Works under emergency situations; Is exposed to smoke and other dangerous fumes (explain what these are); Is subject to strenuous physical effort in handling fire fighting equipment.

Part A – General Information

Purpose: What is the overall purpose of your position? This should be a brief but specific statement of why your position exists. It should allow the reader to immediately understand your position's overall purpose. Use one or two sentences. Begin your sentence with an action verb and end your statement with a "to" phrase explaining why this function is being done.
Example: Directs a fire fighting crew in providing fire protection, first aid, and related services to ensure the safety of the personnel and resources of the South Dakota Air National Guard and the Sioux Falls Regional Airport Authority.
Supervision: If you have responsibility for personnel selection, performance appraisal, and disciplinary action, please list your subordinates' names and titles. This should show those individuals that you complete and sign the performance appraisal for. It is this that makes you their supervisor. If you are assigning and checking tasks, approving leave, and documenting performance but are not completing and signing their performance appraisal you may be their lead worker and not their supervisor.
Work Direction: Do you direct the work (train, assign, or review work) of employees you do not formally supervise? __Yes __No If yes, please list the employees' names and titles and describe the type of direction you give. Include those individuals that you provide work guidance to. Are you assigning them tasks and checking what they have done? Are you helping to train them? List their names, titles, and the purpose of your direction over them.
Example: John Doe, Betty Smith, Henry Vanden Thorpe III - Air Rescue Fire Fighters – Assign their tasks and review completed work.
Challenges: Please explain the most difficult part of your job. Challenges deal with the overall focus or goal of your position. Describe what is the most difficult part of your job and why. Do not include personal challenges, but rather those that would apply to anyone in your position. Ask yourself – what is the most difficult function or part of my job? And why?
Example: Making life or death decisions during emergency situations. This is difficult because of the need to consider the safety of the crew at all times.
Contacts: List frequent or major contacts, the purpose of each contact, and the frequency (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, annually). Do not include subordinates or your supervisor. Contacts can be made in person or by phone.
Example: Weekly contact with other state agencies to give or receive information.
Fiscal Authority: Do you recommend or have authority for the expenditure of funds? __Yes __No. If yes, please describe your authority and list the amount. Do you have approval/signature authority to expend state or federal dollars?
Example: Approve expenditures up to $100 for office and cleaning supplies.

Part D – How Your Job Has Changed: (Do notcomplete this section for new positions)

Has Your Job Changed? __Yes __No (If no, skip to question 6) This is just a yes or no question.
Describe How Your Job Has Changed. (new or changed duties, increased responsibilities, etc.) Please note approximately when the change occurred. List specific tasks that have been added or changed and when they were added or changed. List tasks that you no longer perform and where these tasks went or why. Do not list performance issues.
Briefly explain why the changes were made (e.g. improve operations, new federal requirements, statutory changes, etc.).
Are these temporary changes? __Yes __No If yes, how long will you be performing these duties? Are the new duties a result of staff shortages and will they be reassigned when new staff are hired?
Do your new duties increase the difficulty of your job? __Yes __No If yes, how? Have the new duties increased your required knowledge?
Why did you complete a PDQ?
Please add anything you believe may be helpful in classifying your position. We are not asking for information on your performance. List specific changes in your job that you have not already listed.

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Supervisor's Section

Supervisor's Section

Parts A, B, and C are to be completed by the immediate supervisor. Please forward sections of the PDQ to your personnel representative.

Position Description Questionnaire - Supervisor's Section

Microsoft Word Version (Coming Soon)
Adobe Acrobat PDF Version (Coming Soon)

The supervisor's section of the PDQ is made up of three parts:

Part A – Organizational Structure
1. Incumbent's name and position number.
2. Incumbent's current classification or example pay-grade: Department, Division, Office.
3. Your name and title.
4. Your supervisor's name and title.
5. Names and titles of all subordinates reporting to you.

Part B – Position Description
1. Are all statements made in the employee’s section correct? __Yes __No. Please indicate any additions or exceptions.
2. What are the most important or critical duties of this position? Please explain.
3. What are the most difficult or complex duties of this position? Please explain. (Please refer to Part D of the Employee’s Section to answer questions 4 and 5.)
4. Has this position acquired duties from other positions? __Yes __No. If yes, please identify those duties and what positions they came from.
5. Have any former duties of this position been assigned to someone else? __Yes __No. If yes, which duties and who performs them now?
6. What knowledge, skills, and abilities must an incumbent have to perform the duties of this position competently? Indicate if a license or certification is required.

Part C – Request for Position Classification/Pay Grade Review
1. Requested classification or exempt pay grade:
2. Who initiated the request for review?
3. Reasons for the request:
4. Do you feel that the position should be reclassified/reviewed (or exempt pay-grade changed)? __Yes __No
Please explain: