Do you think engineers are better at solving problems or preventing them? I think prevention is harder because success is basically invisible.

I'm a senior IC with over six years at my company, and nearing the end of my career. There are only two others at my level in our department. When I resign, how much notice is appropriate? Also, does it make a difference if I'm resigning for early retirement versus moving to a competitor?

My manager takes my work (which takes hours), feeds it to AI, and tells me to match the AI's output. Except the AI version makes zero sense for the actual project. I'm so annoyed and checked out that I'm skipping crucial steps in my workflow, making things worse. I used to love this work, but now I’m losing all passion. Has anyone dealt with a boss like this, or is it time for me to quit?

Do you think engineering gets more technical or more psychological over time? The longer I work with teams and systems, the more human behavior seems to matter.

Obviously, no one expects a newly graduated hire to know everything during their first week, but early impressions stick. Question for the managers and senior engineers on here: What can a new grad do in those first few days to make you incredibly glad you hired them? What sets them apart early on?