To develop engineering education in schools, classes specialized in engineering and technology (the engineering classes) are being organized. The problem of the education content in the engineering classes is relevant.

The article presents the authors’ point of view on the competence of the future engineer and its components, it considers the concepts of soft, hard and digital skills and their importance in the education of a professional. The experience of forming these skills in "Engineering Lyceum NSTU" can be taken as a typical example.

In the engineering classes such courses as "Technical Drawing", "Information Technology in Physics", as well as the industrial practice in the 8th grade, the scientific research in the 10th and 11th grades are compulsory for all students. The course "The career of an engineer: we form softskills" (the developers of the course are Kozlova O.P. and Stolbchenko A.N., the teachers of Engineering Lyceum NSTU, 2018) for the 10-11 grades is provided with an educational and methodological manual and a workbook.

A new course "Technical Entrepreneurship" designed by Kozlova O.P. for the engineering classes is in the testing phase now, the lessons are held in the Business incubator of NSTU. The organization of competitions (for example, the Championship of assembling a personal computer), the preparation for and participation in various competitions (championships, tournaments, olympiads, etc.), the advanced training in small groups on robotics, prototyping, electronics, etc. - all this promotes the orientation of the school student in the world of engineering professions, it forms certain qualities necessary for the future engineer.

The conclusions formulated in the reseach be could be taken as the basis for the development of the educational program of classes specialized in engineering and technology.

Keywords: specialized classes, vocational guidance, skills, technical undertaking.