SpaceX Structure Engineer interview questions

I applied online and what set me apart was I included photos from several previous projects. (SpaceX wants to see tangible results from previous projects and loves to ask what you learned.) There are several phone screenings in the beginning of the process with engineers and management. If you complete this, you will go to HQ in Hawthorne for a group presentation on a project you worked on in the past. The room is full of several departments who will ask you questions on it in different disciplines, the goal is to figure out if you were just a member of the team or the one who drove the project. After this, there are 5-8 one on one interview sessions. Expect the whole process at HQ to last 6-8 hours, you will be very tired when is done.

I was first contacted by a recruiter on linkedin in September 2015 asking if I was interested in applying. I had a quick phone screen with that recruiter shortly thereafter, and was put in touch with a recruiter in a different department more aligned with my interests shortly thereafter. This 2nd phone screen was fairly difficult- this particular recruiter had an engineering degree, and really grilled me on the technical aspects of a few of my projects. I'm not sure if this is normal for recruiters at SpaceX, but keep in mind that this phone screen may not necessarily be an easy one. I then had a phone interview with an engineer, who asked me a ton of technical questions about my project, as well as a few general technical questions and a brain teaser (all outlined below). After that interview, I didn't hear back from SpaceX at all for 4 months. I emailed and called my recruiter multiple times, but never heard back. I assumed that they were not moving forward with my application, and continued my job search, applying with other companies. You can imagine my surprise when a 3rd recruiter called me in late January 2016, asking if I would be interested in "re-engaging" with SpaceX. I was set up for a phone interview with a 2nd, more senior, engineer, who asked more technical questions about my project. He was very apologetic about it taking them so long to get back to me. It was a really interesting discussion, and was a very enjoyable interview on the whole- really forced me to rethink certain aspects of my project from the perspective of a rocketry engineer. A few days later, I was contacted asking me to come out for the on-site interview. When I got to HQ in Hawthorne, I got the tour of the facility and then gave a presentation to ~8 engineers on a technical project I had worked on. It had to be 15 minutes long, but took about an hour with all of their questions. After the presentation, I was taken to a separate room to wait while they debated on whether or not I should move on to the next stage of the interview process (one-on-one interviews with each of them). In the end, I did not make it any farther in the process. It's hard to say why exactly, I thought I nailed the presentation and answered every single one of their questions accurately and succinctly. All my recruiter said was that they didn't think I'd be a good fit on their team, though she also mentioned I could try again when I had more experience. That would make sense considering I'm currently entry-level, though I do have multiple internships under my belt.