In the ancient Chinese book Tien Hsiuan Zi, it is stated that “An average manager can follow the rules, whereas a wise manager can make the rules……he who succeeds in following the rules is called ‘wise’; he who is succeeds in making the rules is called ‘god”. Through a scientific analysis of engineering skills competitions, this research aims to help administrators of schools participating in these competitions to devise training strategies. The study was conducted through simultaneous use of the questionnaire survey method and the lateral vector method. The questionnaire developed by the researchers was used to inquire into the current situation regarding training of contestants. The lateral vector method was used to analyze the correlation between various aspects of competitions. The research discovered that among schools that trained contestants, on 48% of these included written testing as part of their overall training program. In addition, written test score a positive causal effect on placement in competitions, which is consistent with t-test results. Through a discussion of results, four main conclusions have been drawn: 1). The higher the score on the written test the greater the influence that it will have on competition placement; 2). 58.33% of the variation in competition placement is influenced by written test scores; 3). Approximately 18% of contestants will place higher due to their scores on written tests; 4). The higher the placement in competitions the greater the influence of written test scores. Finally the researchers proposed that if participating schools want to place high in competitions, they will raise to 18% the portion that written testing makes up of the entire training program.
