I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Tesla
Interview
Hiring Process in one word: Pathetic.
I was being interview for two separate engineering positions by two different HR persons. I come from an elite school with a solid resume. My past work and resume was highly appreciated by the interviewers. I was told that I would hear by the following week. In both cases, I found similar behavior. I never received any response. I had a chance to talk to one of them through email and he told me that they were working on it and he would get in touch with me in next 1-2 days. Never heard back again. I had heard negative reviews from many other people so I had already made up my mind not to go for this company. I accepted a job at a much better place and did not waste my time waiting for Tesla. In order to test whether they reply or no, I sent emails to both interviewers several times to see if I get any response or no. They never bothered to reply even a single word. Tells me a lot about the company.
Reading the past interview reviews, regular employee reviews and hearing from several people who work there, It is clear that Tesla does not respect neither the current employees nor the future candidates. You are treated as a slave and expected to work 12 hours shifts in the name of "passion". I believe that a company cannot survive long if the employees are not respected. Employees are humans and not robots. During the interviews I generally observe a lot and I must say I was not impressed by the interviewers.
The product is great, but the company and work environment...not at all. My honest advice to all the new graduates is that don't work for this company unless you are desperate to get a job. There are many good companies out there where your talent and hard work will be highly respected and the work will be just as challenging and rewarding.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Interview was not too hard. Mostly about resume and past experiences.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 8 weeks. I interviewed at Tesla (Palo Alto, CA) in Jan 2013
Interview
A colossal waste of time and energy!. Had 4 phone interviews + 6 onsite interviews and still the interviewers had little idea what they should expect from candidate. 8 weeks into the process I was told they cannot proceed as requirements have changed. Everyone knows Tesla is doing awesome...but please respect the candidates time.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Tesla
Interview
1. Contacted by recruiter. Went over my resume and job experience.
2. Contacted by senior engineer. Talked about my background. Very laid back.
3. Contacted by one of the managers. Talked about my past experience. Was asked for 1 or 2 specific examples. Phone interview was relatively easy.
4. Company flew me down to CA for an interview. Interview lasted for more than 5 hours in the Fremont, CA location. Interviewed with 5 managers/directors. Questions were very direct and mostly technical regarding my past experience. No written test or behavioral questions were asked. A couple of questions were asked about how would you persuade your manager to make changes even if they disagree. Each manager was very different. Got a bit nervous after a couple of hours. I did get a chance to go down on the floor and see Tesla Model S. Very cool!
Overall, I would say questions were not very difficult if you are well prepared. The mental exhaustion can play a part in getting nervous after a couple of hours.
Some of my observations:
Very open environment, no cubicles. Judging by the amount of people still in the office after 6 p.m, expect to work long hours and weekends. Also, be prepared to wear different hats since the company is currently understaffed for what it needs to do in order to build quality cars. I felt that the interviewing process could have been better in terms of timing and structure. There is no cafeteria in the building but they do offer some snacks, pre-made sandwiches (for $) and provide free cereal, coffee, etc... Coming from a big organization and based on my questions to the managers, I felt that the company needs a more robust structure, set processes, and approval process. Overall, good experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Unexpected question - name three (not one) weaknesses. This was asked after three strengths which is typically much easier to answer.
Most difficult question - for each job you held, name your greatest achievement and impact.