VEs often say a claimant has transferable skills, noting everyday activities such as driving a car, answering the phone, speaking to people, making change, etc.

The problem is those are not skills, at least for Social Security disability purposes.

A skill is something learned in past work (SSR 82-41). So, if you learned it in school, from being a parent, or just being alive, it is not a skill. Skills are learned by doing the job.

Then how do you deal with a VE saying that something that is learned in school or just from being a live human being is a transferable skill?

Get a VE to admit a skill is learned by doing a job, not from living, schooling, or other nonvocational experiences.

Questions to consider:

• When and where did he/she acquire the skill of [purported skill]? 
• Was there specific training on how to do [purported skill]?
• How long did it take to learn to [purported skill]?
• Are you familiar with Social Security’s Transferability of Skills Assessment? (See POMS DI 25015.017(I))
  • If they say yes, ask them to perform the assessment for the purported skill
  • If they say no you can 1) object to their testimony, 2) perform the assessment for/with them, or 3) do both

And remember if the RFCA is for unskilled work transferability of skills is not an issue and the ALJ cannot identify skilled or semi-skilled jobs at steps 4 and 5 as a basis for a denial.

Many, if not most, VEs and ALJs are not familiar with what is and what is not a skill let alone the Transferability of Skills Assessment. It is up to you to know it and be sure your client is not improperly found to have acquired skills.