I applied online. I interviewed at SpaceX (Los Angeles, CA) in Dec 2020
Interview
After receiving an email for a phone interview, I was scheduled for a few rounds of questioning. In the first I was asked about general engineering tasks and ways in which I would approach certain projects. I was also quizzed on how well I could utilize hands-on tools and manufacturing intuition when designing components.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I was given a very interesting puzzle for the last round that I found a little odd given the actual duties of the role. The puzzle goes as follows: You are on a boat in the middle of a lake/ocean/pool (point being that the body of water is contained and no water moves in and out of the system.) On the boat, you are holding a ball. At this state, the water level is L0. Afterwards, you drop the ball into the water and it sinks into the water (fully submerged) until it hits the bottom. Given this change in the system, the water level is recorded as L1. The question is, is L1 less than, equal to, or greater than L0?
4-5 Calls with technical and behavioral recruiter followed by design project (4-5 hrs of work) and final interview on site. Technical questions required thought and coursework to answer successfully. Design project was a serious undertaking that took more time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Draw the thermal resistance circuit for a starlink dish.
I applied through university. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX in Aug 2021
Interview
Reached out to a recruiter who set me up for an interview with a Starlink engineer. Went okay, asked a few technical questions and a few behavioural questions. Was a little informal but overall not the worst interview in the world.
Fast-paced interview with many technical questions. Started off with questions about my resume and past experience then transitioned to a mix of technical mechanical design questions. Nothing was terribly difficult there was just a large variety in the kinds of questions asked and their specific topics.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Failure mechanisms for cylindrical pressure vessels.