The difficulties experienced by vocational education and training (VET) teachers in delivering the generic employability skills embedded in industry training packages are considered in this paper. It suggests that the interpretation of generic skills should not be left to trainers and that a national strategy that is clear concise, comprehensive and implementable must be developed. This paper is the result of a 2008 NCVER New Researcher Award. (Three appendixes are included: (1) Principles of Assessment; (2) Trades Trainers Interview Questions; and (3) Certificate IV Trainers Interview Questions. Contains 3 footnotes and 1 table.)