I applied through other source. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Mar 2014
Interview
SpaceX was the only job I was applying to as my current position is pretty awesome. They were accommodating to my work schedule and when I had to reschedule a phone screen they were understanding.
I got the sense that SpaceX is much more like a silicon valley company than an aerospace company. This was particularly attractive to me as I've been working for big tech companies.
There are some really sharp people working at SpaceX and they all seem enthusiastic about what they're doing. They made it clear that long hours are expected, but that they're also working to reduce the overall load on the engineers.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
All the questions were standard software engineer interview questions. SpaceX doesn't assume any domain knowledge, so I didn't have to explain how orbital mechanics work or anything like that.
The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA)
Interview
They moved quick and it was a streamlined interview process. One screen phone call and two video calls. There was an opportunity to send a sample of past presentations I gave and it was forwarded, and well received. The hiring manager and HR were fine. This place is 150% hype with a regular level of benefits and pay for this area. The third interviewer was fake, bias, and not professional at all. All interviews went well. They rejected me two days later. They only want foreigners for those higher positions and California is the land of foreigners. The feedback was illogical and ridiculous. Essentially, it said we need a person to setup and manage a software (which I have 15 years of experience in), but we don't have a position open for that software and we don't have a need. The position I just interviewed for is an open position involving that software they complained about.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX
Interview
First step is a recruiter call with some typical background questions, followed by a fairly difficult, timed take home assessment, and then finally a 5 part on-site interview session which included a presentation to the entire team you'd be working with.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe and present on a previous project you worked on, in great technical detail.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Redmond, WA) in Mar 2024
Interview
A recruiter contacted me. We had a phone call, then a call with a lead SWE. Then was given a take home test that is supposed to take 2-4 hours, took me about 2.5 hours. After submitting, a SWE reviews your submission and you then get invited to the on-site. I was invited for the on-site but I declined to continue the process further; just not the right time for me to move companies.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Tech-screen: rapid-fire questions about C++, memory allocation, pointers, etc.