Aptitudes

10:10 Dec 17, 2019 

It would be interesting to see how the word is used in the source text. We know it is in the plural and it may well be that the employer is looking for someone who has (a list of?) aptitudes (particulières?) dans..., i.e. specialised areas of kitchen designing. For what it's worth, randomly picked form the Net: "Kitchen designers must have strong active listening skills so that they can make sure their designs meet their clients' needs. They will also need to know the building codes for their area, have computer-aided drafting experience, possess a keen eye for detail and be up to date on current kitchen design trends."

10:10 Dec 17, 2019 

This word means "being able to do something" in French, not just "able to learn".<p>Cf. Qualité rendant possibles certaines performances. (http://stella.atilf.fr/Dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/advanced.exe?8... ) or Aptitude à qqch., à faire qqch... Aptitude bien exercée, entraînant la compétence, le talent... Par ext. Compétence acquise et reconnue après une formation. Aptitude professionnelle. Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle (C. A. P.), examens ou concours sanctionnant des études à finalités professionnelles. (Le Grand Robert de la langue française)<p>Not for me to say how it should be translated into English, but choosing an English word that means only "being able to learn" would be too restrictive in my opinion. Aptitude often means that you already have the required skills. The par ext. bit above is important here: this is a job ad and I can imagine that the employer, while being happy with someone who can learn, will be even happier to find people who already know how to do things because they learnt how to. That is what aptitude generally means in a job ad.<p>

00:46 Dec 17, 2019 

Both terms can be translated as "skills"? - no they can't.

If you are looking to employ someone or if you need a partner for a projet, there is a not so small difference between someone who already knows a lot (either theoretically or as some practical skill) ("compétences") and someone with great capacity for learning ("aptitudes")

As an example, if you have an IT project, someone not capable of quick learning is useless, whatever acquired formal knowledge they may have. In the real world, words are not "just words" ...

As per usual, those who can't see the importance of "fine points" are quick to declare questions Non-PRO ...

13:59 Dec 16, 2019 

16:52 Dec 15, 2019 

I don't see why you conspicuously make no mention of the English word "aptitudes". It implies innate abilities, such as learning new languages, as opposed to skills, such as being able to speak French. I'm not going to post it as an answer because you appear to have rejected it.