What should a software engineer know upon graduating in 2024?

In short:

0. CS fundamentals & how to program

1. Project Management basics

2. Unix admin basics

3. Networking

4. Git/lab/hub

5. Writing & People skills

Maybe Docker as well, depending on where you'd like to work. We could quibble over the details, but I think this is a good foundation to get hired today. Although it will be difficult until the the economy stabilizes.

I've done some writing on the subject at greater length, but haven't quite finished: https://mixmastamyk.bitbucket.io/pro_soft_dev/

I would argue you should get up to speed on AI as your future career may be somewhat impacted by it, and if not, many others in the corporate world will be.