System Safety is not a well-known field. When the word "engineering" is mentioned, words that come to mind are design, innovation, progression, but not safety. This can also be said for many high school and college engineering curricula, most do not have a focus in safety. The primary focus is on technical design and the design process. System Safety is a growing field and will require more highly skilled and knowledgeable individuals in the future as designs become more complex. How does management recruit talent coming from an academic background that purely focuses on design and not Safety? How can that talent be retained?

?In 2016 I graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. During those four years I had a difficult time determining what I would like to do with my degree. The curriculum was primarily focused on design, however, I was unsure if I wanted a career in design. Even though much of the curriculum was focused on design, there were instances where Safety could have been a focus. During a required Aerodynamics class, the professor tasked us with researching a fatal commercial airline accident. Through our research we discovered that an erroneous indication in the cockpit caused confusion among the pilots which set off a chain of events that led to the loss of the aircraft and its occupants. This exercise was used to reinforce an aerodynamic concept we had learned in a previous session, but could have also been used to demonstrate the need for System Safety. Even if there are not classes specifically dedicated to System Safety in a typical engineering curriculum today, the subject matter exists, the term "System Safety" just needs to be included.

This paper provides experiences, impressions, and personal anecdotes regarding my career as a rookie system safety engineer. Topics include the training, mentoring, and other resources that were provided to me or what I would have preferred as I began my career. The goal is to initiate a discussion with management about providing ways to attract and retain new talent. As the world of system safety grows, it is important to keep up with the demand needed. One way of doing this would be to introduce System Safety to the young engineer as early as possible. This paper will recommend ways to accomplish this task as well as provide an example as to how I have begun doing this. During the last two International System Safety Conferences, there have been numerous instances of managers expressing concern that they were unable to retain young talent, while the focus of the Society has been to incorporate System Safety within academia. The society's approach to this issue is promising, but this is just one step of many that will be needed in order to attract the talent that this field will need.

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