I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at SpaceX (Seattle, WA) in Jan 2021
Interview
1. General phone screen with recruiter
2. Technical resume screen with lead engineer
3. Open ended engineering scenarios to test fundamentals with manager
4. Presentation and Q&A session
5. On-site interview with one on ones, whiteboard problem solving, system level questions etc
6. Phone technical + high level thinking with VP
It was a challenging but really fun interview process. The interviewers was super smart but also humble and made you feel comfortable. Know your fundamentals, show your application of first principles and really nail the Presentation. Show your technical skills and intense passion for your work through it.
It’s more important to show good communication and sound engineering principles vs knowing the exact answer before hand. Don’t jump to the answer, take your time, ask questions, communicate clearly and state all assumptions (simply supported vs fixed etc) and most of all be calm and confident and show your honest passionate attitude to learn and grow! Good luck!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Conceptual/system level questions
Questions related to previous projects and reasoning for design choices
Why SpaceX?
I applied online. I interviewed at SpaceX (Brownsville, TX)
Interview
Asked technical questions regarding basic college engineering fundamentals, asked engineering portfolio questions regarding previous internship and project experiences, and asked hypotheticals based on what areas were owned on those projects.
First was with a lead engineer (technical), then with a recruiter (behavioral), then with another lead engineer (technical), future would have been on site. It was a very accelerated timeline and fast process.
Multiple rounds of interviews ending with an all day onsite interview. Asked questions about background, classic textbook problems, and coworker interactions. Very technical and difficult. Lots of time spent trying to understand your thought process