This article draws on research in educational science to analyse the development of professional skills in training schemes intended to professionalise trainees. Three types of context are investigated: the craft industry institutes set up by the French organisiation "les Compagnons du Devoir", University Teacher Training Institutes and engineering schools. Rather than addressing the development of skills in terms of the effectuation of action, it is explored in terms of the actual taking of action. Insofar as competence presupposes an individual's commitment to action, it is important to explore the training methods and processes supporting such commitment. While institutional discourse emphasises the ability to act by oneself, the former trainees (young professionals) questioned express their need for recognition by others rather than by an authority figure.