I applied through other source. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Redmond, WA) in Apr 2023
Interview
I was reached out by a recruiter on LinkedIn two months ago about an opportunity. Replied with contact info but was ghosted. Hiring manager reached out two months later on LinkedIn and was able to schedule an informative call. A screening interview was scheduled on the same day with the same recruiter that ghosted me, but I was not called at the scheduled time. Called the recruiter after 15 minutes of wait but he didn’t pick up. Got an email minutes later saying he called sick that day and was not able to inform me. Interview was re-scheduled to the next day. Eventually got a call but it was 8 minutes late. No apology or whatsoever. Was asked to be in a quiet area in an email but the background noise from the SpaceX office was just unbearable. I could hear echo of my own voice, which indicates he was not even using a headphone. Questions asked included:
Tell me about your citizenship status.
Would you be able to come to the office to work 5 days a week?
Why SpaceX? Why are you interested in this role?
Tell me about yourself.
Tell me about a project and your role.
First one was easy. Got an email about scheduling a second interview with hiring manager and a lead engineer. For the second interview, manager called at the scheduled time, but it was 3 minutes late. The whole thing felt rushed and unprofessional. He jumped right into ‘Why SpaceX?’ right after asking ‘How are you?’. I like answering questions with detailed answers/stories but there were no feedbacks from the other end at all the whole time. I was like talking to myself the whole time and it felt weird. He does not seem to be interested in everything I said (even during our first informative call), which made the situation even more awkward. It was just formal questions after questions. Questions asked included:
Why SpaceX? Why are you interested in this role?
Tell me about a project you are proud of and explain your role.
Tell me about a thing that you made.
Two concentric tubes (steel and aluminum) touching at their ends. An object is placed on top of them. How is the load distributed? If you heat up the tubes by 100 degrees, how would the load profile change?
Walk me through your thought process on calculating how many square meters of pizza are consumed in America in a year.
After I finished all the questions and asked some questions, manager went straight to ‘recruiter will be in touch for the next step’. I told him I was going to have another scheduled call with a lead engineer shortly, and of course, that lead engineer did not call.
I waited 15 minutes and emailed the recruiter and have heard nothing since then. I guess the manager told the lead engineer not to call because he thinks I am not a suitable candidate. I think that is fair. I don't think I got the tube question right, but at least you inform the candidate that you are not going to call. I prepared these two calls for a week and was sitting there for 15 minutes before deciding to give up, not on the probability of getting the job, but on dealing with unprofessional people. I am not going to judge whose time is more valuable but that was very unprofessional.
If any SpaceX leadership is reading this, get some professionals to run your organization instead of kids straight from college. They may do well technically, but definitely not professionally. Just imagine, how would I be asked twice ‘Why are you interested in this role?’ when I was reached out by both the recruiter and the hiring manager?
Two concentric tubes (steel and aluminum) touching at their ends. An object is placed on top of them. How is the load distributed? If you heat up the tubes by 100 degrees, how would the load profile change?