Is there an English equivalent of Arabic "gowatra" - performing a task with none of the necessary training?

Question

In Iraqi Arabic, there's a term "gowatra". In a sentence, the expression will be used like, "it is not guatra [to do this or that, to have this, to get this]". That word or idiom simply means you can't just get a job somewhere, or pretty much do anything that requires skills without any prior knowledge, certificates, experience, etc. An example:

• Monica: I wonder if my best friend, who is a teacher, can let me work with her as her assistant.
• Miranda: People can't just get into positions that require a set of skills. It is not [insert word] to do such things.

To note, the expression doesn't have to pertain to working or jobs. Just any thing that relates to jumping into an adept position without any skills or knowledge. So they say, "it is not guwatra to do that".

I don't know the Arabic word's exact etymological meaning. But that's how it's used in sentences (as you saw above). Can't think of an equivalent English term. Both single words and idioms are welcome.

Answer 1

"كوترة" looks like an adverb/adverbial to me, originally meaning buying/selling goods without weighing, going on to generally mean receiving/giving something casually or haphazardly, implying more benefit to the receiver than the giver.

For your example, off the top of my head is "willy-nilly":

Such jobs aren't given willy-nilly.
It's not (done) willy-nilly.

Answer 2

There is the somewhat tautologous but idiomatic expression

• One can't just casually walk into such a post.

The senses below are selected for relevance.

casually: in a way that shows indifference, apathy, or a lack of intention or understanding:

• She strolled in casually, as if she weren’t late. [Dictionary.com]

casually: without much care or thought; without paying attention to detail [Oxford Learner's Dictionary]

casually: [done] done without much thought, effort, or concern [Britannica Dictionary]

And I see @Andy Bonner has overlapped:

walk into: achieve a state or position easily or undeservedly.

• No one has the right to walk straight into a well-paid job for life. Oxford Dictionary of English; courtesy of Google]

Answer 3

Wearing the Crown is no sinecure.

A sinecure is a position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit.
Examples in Cambridge disctionnary

If you have a cushy job — one that pays, but involves minimal work — then you have a sinecure. "Because he was the brother of the CEO, he was offered a sinecure in the company: he showed up each day and collected a paycheck, but others actually did his work."
Examples in Vocabulary.com

However, It doesn't mean that you have no skills in the domain, just that there is very few work to perform.

Answer 4

A little underwhelming but I think 'just choose' or 'just decide' seem to fit:

• You don't just decide to become an astronaut. NASA is selective.
• You can't just choose to become a financial advisor. You need to go to school and be certified.
• You can't just decide to become a teacher. You need a have master's degree in this state.

Answer 5

The closest is probably "flying by the seat of your pants".

Longman gives fly by the seat of your pants: informal - to have to deal with a situation by guessing what to do, because you know very little about it.

You also have the more modern "fake it until you make it."

Both can be used in the negative - saying you can't do that.

"We knew that we didn't want to work with insurance at all," Meehan says, "so our business plan centered on being cash-based. For that model to work, though, you need a system in place. You can't just fly by the seat of your pants." https://www.apta.org/apta-magazine/2017/04/01/mastering-cash-based-practice

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Compared to other fast-growing jobs in tech, data engineers top the list coming in over back end developers, senior data scientists, CRM developers, and many more.

Why else is there such a high demand for data engineers? Companies are investing in large-scale data projects that the industry just can’t keep up with, not to mention their very specialized training, where you can’t just fake it until you make it! https://www.crystalequation.com/post/4-of-it-s-most-in-demand-professionals

Answer 6

One could certainly use trivial, which means easy, simple, straightforward.

Answer 7

One can dabble in a field. One shouldn't dabble when training is required.

Sorry, dabblers aren't welcome here.

Dabbling isn't permitted for serious work.

This is, of course, an application beyond a single task.