Job specific skills can be contrasted with transferable skills like communication, organization, presentation, teamwork, planning, supervisory and time management which are required in a broad array of jobs. Certain transferable skills will be valued more highly for some occupations than others.

For example, consultants need strong presentation skills and lawyers need solid research skills. However, these transferable skills shouldn't be confused with job specific skills since they represent general areas of ability valued in a wide cross section of jobs.