I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA) in Sept 2018
Interview
I applied online in August, heard back the next day (this was right before they switched their application portal). Recruiter contacted me for a screening. I then had two different phone interviews with various members of the team that I was being considered for. This was about 3 weeks in time, and then I was asked to fly out to LA for an interview. They paid for hotel, flight, and transportation.
For the in person interview, I had to give a presentation on a technical challenge I solved. I didn’t do too well on this - I missed the point of the presentation. They want to see your problem solving skills, how thorough and creative you are, and if they would want to work with you - show your personality, how you work effectively with others, etc.
Then I had about 8 individual interviews with different team members and a couple higher ups - mainly technical questions and personality questions. Some interviews involved manufacturing of parts and systems. For instance, you could be given a drawing and then be asked “how would you jig this to minimize error” or “how would you inspect this”. These were pretty difficult for me, and I’m not sure how you could really practice this unless you have really good intuition for it or a lot of prior experience.
Overall a good experience though. Just know your stuff and be yourself, don’t overthink it. Be confident.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
You have a cantilevered beam with a load at the end, where does it fail?
I was given a drawing of a complicated tube assembly and asked how I would create a jig to manufacture it. Also how would I ensure it would meet design intent.
I applied online. I interviewed at SpaceX in Jun 2026
Interview
I completed the initial 20- 30-minute call. This did not have any technical questions. I provided my portfolio and explained how certain projects fit this role. I was given the next interview and set up a time at the end of this call.
Phone screen with recruiter followed by two phone calls with engineers and then an on-site interview where you present a presentation on a topic of your choice. Also other technical interviews on site as well.
Got reached out to by a recruiter on LinkedIn. Setting up an interview time was easy. The first interview screening was basically describing your past experiences. The second interview is technical. Whole process took a week.