The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Jan 2025
Interview
I had great experience interviewing for SpaceX. The process involved two rounds of interviews-- one was a phone call with the hiring manager, the second was a teams call with engineers on the same team. Round one interview started off with manager discussing role and its responsibilities, then a conversation leading off the "tell me about a big problem you solved question", and some behavioral questions at the end. Few days later, I heard back for a second round invite which was a technical panel interview with two engineers I'd work closely with. Interview mainly covered standard mech e concepts-- hookes law, beam deflection, material properties, heat transfer, manufacturing processes and techniques. There were also some role specific technical questions and questions about softwares I am comfortable with. At the end, I was told I'd hear back soon regarding a decision-- I received an email about 10 days after regarding a 15 min call abt next steps, and I was later offered the position during phone call. My advice to other students trying to get in: 1) know your resume in and out, esp your biggest project as the interviews will grill you about this. 2) revisit basic mech e concepts, from my experience, showing your foundational knowledge is far more important than the actual correct answer. I definitely did not answer every technical question correctly or in complete detail. 3) another behavioral question i received in both interviews was regarding leadership ability- from my experience, SpaceX rlly cares abt hiring candidates who demonstrate leadership ability, so ensure you can talk about this in some way. 4) be curious about the role and position-- ask thoughtful questions that rlly help you understand the role, and this will show true interest in the position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me how you would design an enclosure for an electrical system that needs to handle extreme conditions in space as well as vibrations.
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA)
Interview
It was virtual on Teams and my interviewer got switched up at the last second. Cameras were off and the interviewer was pretty nice. Overall positive experience he guided me through some of the questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
If you have concentric steel/aluminum cylinders with the same area carrying a weight on top, which carries more of the weight?
I applied online. I interviewed at SpaceX in Sep 2023
Interview
A series of technical questions that got harder as I continued. SpaceX has two technical interviews for interns. One interviewer didn't even introduce themselves and proceeded to ask 10 technical questions in a row, then we ended the call and I heard back the same day that I got the 2nd interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
If you have a gas bottle that starts at 10 bar, and after 1 minute of opening it it gets to 9 bar, then how long does it take to fully drain?