I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Sep 2015
Interview
For an internship, I did two phone interviews after I got my resume screened. Two engineers on the team that was considering my applications interviewed me one at a time. They were just friendly chats about my experience, with a few technical questions to make sure I understood the fundamentals of structural mechanics and had the intuition to keep up when I got here.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Consider a beam loaded as a cantilever. Where will the highest stresses develop?
Consider a beam welded to a plate. This plate is bolted onto a wall with four bolts. The beam is loaded as a cantilever. What failure modes come to mind?
I applied online. I interviewed at SpaceX in Oct 2019
Interview
The interview process involved two technical phone interviews. Both interviews placed heavy emphasis on structural mechanics and manufacturing. Interview questions also involved many past projects that were listed on my resume.
I applied through other source. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Feb 2017
Interview
I was referred through a friend to someone in the HR department. They move VERY fast. I had a screening interview 3 days after being introduced and then had my first technical interview the following morning. This interview was based around work I had done for my FSAE team and how I had approached the design process for the drivetrain on the 2017 car. After a week or so I got an email saying that they wanted another interview. That interview was much like the previous one, where I was asked about things on my resume and about my involvement with my FSAE team.
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Walk me through the design process for the drivetrain you built for the formula car.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA)
Interview
I applied through a referral and got a call from HR to schedule a phone interview. I had several calls from HR to provide my GPA and SAT scores for some reason. I got one scheduled for the next week with one of the structures engineers. 2 days after the interview I got a call from HR that I had been offered the intern position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The engineer mostly asked questions about my resume. I also sent him a presentation of my college projects for him to follow along which he enjoyed. He asked about my designs, why I did what I did, what materials I chose and why. There were no technical questions unrelated to the experience on my resume. I also had a low GPA (below 3.0) and he did not ask about it because the engineers don't care. Engineers just care that you have relevant experience, skills, and are a fast learner.
