I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Apr 2024
Interview
Four rounds of interviews. Screening call with basic engineering questions. 2 hour-long phone interviews with different engineers on the team. Here were more screening engineering questions with a couple more abstract/complicated problems. Talking about a significant project you worked on with follow up questions. Onsite was about 6 hours. ~30 minute tour of main building, ~1hr panel presentation/interview, 30 min lunch. 6 one-on-one interviews asking about your background, technical questions, scenarios. For a couple I was handed hardware and asked to explain how it works, what it does, how it was manufactured. Process was fun but very long. Got an automated email rejection with no feedback. Everybody you spoke to along the process does not respond after this point.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Max stress on a beam? If I had a balloon inflated in the car and I accelerate the car, where does the balloon go?
I applied online. I interviewed at SpaceX in Mar 2026
Interview
My interview experience at SpaceX was disappointing. The expectations felt extremely high, even for mid-level roles. Missing even one or two questions seemed to stop the process, and there was little tolerance for not knowing something.
It felt like they prioritize candidates who already know everything rather than those willing to learn. Overall, a very rigid and negative experience.
Round 1) Recruiter Phone Call
Round 2-4+) Phone call with Lead Engineer, Manager, etc.
Round 5) On-Site with Technical Presentation and One-on-Ones
I found the questions in the in-person one-on-ones were equal or slightly harder than the phone screening questions
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why SpaceX? (Was asked this during all four phone screenings)
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Difficult interview
Application
I interviewed at SpaceX (Brownsville, TX)
Interview
1 on 1 interview standard fundamental mech questions from coursework fluids, statics, structures, heat transfer, thermo etc. asked lots of questions and follow ups to get a gauge of thinking
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
fixed cantilever beam point load p at the end what is the defleciton eq?