David Smith et al. (Smith, Wolstencroft, & Southern, 1989) believe that schools don’t prepare its students to work in a professional environment. This is mostly because schools aren’t aware of which personal transferable skills in particular are employers looking for. Research conducted by David Smith concluded that the most common personal transferable skills in successful employees are:
•	Skills related to solving problems. This may include the ability to learn quickly, critical thinking, creative and imaginative thinking, etc
•	Skills related to communication. This may include communicating orally or written, listening to others, and selecting appropriate channels to communicate
•	Skills related to working in a group. This may include team work, leadership, negotiation skills, resolving conflict, cooperating with others, and motivation
(Smith, Wolstencroft, & Southern, 1989)
Furthermore, David Smith et al. sent out a questionnaire to graduates in the commerce industry and were asked to respond to which personal transferable skills were post relevant to their current job. The results from the questionnaire concluded that organising self, learning quickly and co-operating with others were the most useful skills. (Smith, Wolstencroft, & Southern, 1989)

Reference
Smith, D., Wolstencroft, T., & Southern, J. (1989). Personal Transferable Skills and the Job Demands on Graduates. Journal Of European Industrial Training, 13(8).