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admission à un concours professionnel

English translation: admittance / acceptance at a (professional) competitive entry examination

01:31 Jul 3, 2013
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Human Resources
French term or phrase: admission à un concours professionnel
Struggling with the meaning here of variations on this phrase throughout my document. It is from Burkina Faso, and the original contains a number of errors in the French.

I'm unclear as to whether it refers to being 'admitted to a professional competition' or 'passing a professional competitive exam'.

Cette politique consiste à recruter du personnel spécifiquement pour les zones difficiles avec l’admission à un concours professionnel comme seule possibilité de départ de la région de recrutement.

En effet, l’accès aux écoles de formations aux métiers de la santé (Infirmiers, accoucheuses, sage femmes) était conditionné par l’admission au concours annuellement organisé par le ministère de la fonction.

Mais, depuis le début des années 2000, les écoles de formations aux métiers de la santé, anciennement ouvertes uniquement au personnel admis au concours direct de l’Etat ou au concours professionnel, se sont ouvertes à des inscrits sur titre, c’est-à-dire à des candidats qui n’ont pas réussi au concours ou qui n’ont pas voulu le faire mais qui sont engagés à payer leur formation.

It is in contrast to those 'inscrits sur titre' which is my next question coming up!
Laura Molinari
Canada
Local time: 23:48
English translation:admittance / acceptance at a (professional) competitive entry examination
Explanation:

In France there is a fundamental difference between "un examen" and "un concours", and that's reflected in "passer un examen" vs "être admis à un concours".
To "pass an exam" all you need is to get above a given threshold showing you have the required minimum level of knowledge of the subject matter, or a minimum level of skills for a practical exam.
A "concours" is a totally different beast, in a different order of magnitude regarding the level of difficulty: it's a competition where the total number of "admitted" candidates is limited in advance. If this year's intake is 300, you can be very good, even exceptionally good, if there are 300 candidates better than you, you're left out in the cold, you're not admitted / not accepted.

I would call it simply a competition (in order to be admitted in some schools, or some universities, or in the Civil Service etc...) but Robert Collins gives for

concours d'entrée (à) : (competitive) entrance examination (for)

concours de recrutement : competitive entry examination

promotion par (voie de) concours : promotion by (competitive) examination

and in the same vein, just for comparison:

concours de beauté : beauty contest






--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day8 hrs (2013-07-04 10:09:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

also, a "concours" is most often than not on purpose designed to take/accept only a number of the very best, so unsurprisingly:

"A la différence de ceux qui ont réussi aux concours d’entrée, les inscrits sur titre ne sont pas intégrés à la fonction publique à la fin de leur scolarité." (from another question in the same series [http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/human_resources/...])
Selected response from:

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:48
Grading comment
This was a tough one! I figured out in the end that it meant candidates were accepted into jobs in the public service via a competitive exam. Thanks to all!
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1who have passed a selective professional entry exam
Tim Webb
5 -1registered for a professional entrance exam
Alison Billington
4admittance / acceptance at a (professional) competitive entry examination
Daryo


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
who have passed a selective professional entry exam


Explanation:
to be *admis* à un concours is to pass it (successfully), not just to sit it.

Tim Webb
France
Local time: 05:48
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway: most standard Fr-En dictionaries list all the options for translating the word 'admis'.
1 hr
disagree  Daryo: you could argue that it's not totally wrong, but to say that you "pass" a "concours" is to miss the key difference between "un concours" vs "un examen".
17 hrs
  -> You're right Daryo - and your suggestion *competitive* is better than my *selective*
agree  katsy: In spite of Daryo's remarks + explanation about the difference between concours and examens, I think you'll find most people talk of "passing" civil service or other competitive exams - when they're talking about it in English....
2 days 5 hrs
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1 day 6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -1
registered for a professional entrance exam


Explanation:
Here admitted to/ registered for.

Succeeding at the exam would be reussir a un concours
Admitted through or by means of, would be admission par.

Alison Billington
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:48
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tim Webb: see Daryo's very comprehensive post above.
9 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

22 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
admittance / acceptance at a (professional) competitive entry examination


Explanation:

In France there is a fundamental difference between "un examen" and "un concours", and that's reflected in "passer un examen" vs "être admis à un concours".
To "pass an exam" all you need is to get above a given threshold showing you have the required minimum level of knowledge of the subject matter, or a minimum level of skills for a practical exam.
A "concours" is a totally different beast, in a different order of magnitude regarding the level of difficulty: it's a competition where the total number of "admitted" candidates is limited in advance. If this year's intake is 300, you can be very good, even exceptionally good, if there are 300 candidates better than you, you're left out in the cold, you're not admitted / not accepted.

I would call it simply a competition (in order to be admitted in some schools, or some universities, or in the Civil Service etc...) but Robert Collins gives for

concours d'entrée (à) : (competitive) entrance examination (for)

concours de recrutement : competitive entry examination

promotion par (voie de) concours : promotion by (competitive) examination

and in the same vein, just for comparison:

concours de beauté : beauty contest






--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day8 hrs (2013-07-04 10:09:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

also, a "concours" is most often than not on purpose designed to take/accept only a number of the very best, so unsurprisingly:

"A la différence de ceux qui ont réussi aux concours d’entrée, les inscrits sur titre ne sont pas intégrés à la fonction publique à la fin de leur scolarité." (from another question in the same series [http://www.proz.com/kudoz/french_to_english/human_resources/...])


Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:48
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
This was a tough one! I figured out in the end that it meant candidates were accepted into jobs in the public service via a competitive exam. Thanks to all!
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