The importance of carrying competitions among students of general education institutions and the effectiveness of these activities as a means of developing the cognitive interest of students are shown. The article describes the experience of carrying competitions among schoolchildren and students of colleges, accumulated in the Kazan National Research Technological University. It is shown that these activities allow to reveal the creative potential of participants, and form the interest in engineering and design activities, which subsequently affects the choice of school leavers who are in demand in the modern labour market of specialties and professions.