18 thoughts on “Interning At SpaceX”

  1. Should one engineer be able to answer all of those questions? Seems like the questions come from different disciplines.

  2. I was surprised by the number of computer science questions.
    Usually if I have to run a gauntlet of gotcha questions in an interview, to me, that’s usually a sign that the company has reached personnel critical mass and is looking for excuses to not hire. If you’re not interested in me for what I know or unwilling to gage my potential for how I could solve problems for you, then you’re likely not interested in me period. Nor should I be interested in you. But then again, I’ve been around the block a few times, even worked as an independent contractor. So guess I would not qualify as an intern. Well, unless someday I do a career change. Who knows? These days a *great* engineering career, at best, will last maybe 15 years. For most that’s only 1/2 a work lifetime.

    Q: “If you have a large, heavy object moving very, very fast, how do you safely slow it down?”
    A: “Very very carefully!”

    heh.

    1. “If you have a large, heavy object moving very, very fast, how do you safely slow it down?”
      That question needs more context. Are we talking a spacecraft approaching a planet?

  3. What type of beam and where on it is the force being applied? Also, you say the “side” of the beam is attached to the wall, did you mean the end?

  4. There’s not nearly enough information given to determine the size of a 32-bit integer. Is it ROM, RAM, and what technology is used? Are they big American bits or tiny Asian bits? On an Apollo AGC, including interface and packaging, a 32-bit integer constant would average about 4.5 inches long while a 32-bit variable would take up about a foot, of course packed in a 3-D structure.

    1. This is exactly the kind of the answer that they are looking for, by the way. They want to hear the thought process.
      If any interviewer is actually asking for a size of an int and that’s the end of the question, they should be fired

    2. LOL. You want a bit pissin’ contest, I’ll giv ya a bit pissin’ contest. I carve my bits inta wood!

  5. These kind of interview question are bullshit. Far, far better is to ask more general questions about things the candidate has done, then ask more and more detailed questions that follow the initial answer. You’ll get a good idea of what the person actually did and get insights into his or her thought processes. I would much rather have somebody who is creative, smart, and a fast learner than somebody who is good at gotcha questions but can’t reason effectively (all too common unfortunately).

    1. Is that elephant BS or domestic cow BS. Be specific man! er … beast! er … interstellar scourge.

  6. From people I talked to that have interviewed, those questions seem similar to what is asked. It’s not that the questions are really difficult, it is just that most engineers would pull the appropriate reference and then solve the problem. They seem to want you to be a walking reference. That’s cool if they pay well, but I think the pay is average, and what I was told this week is they have 14 hour workdays. All that, and you still have the booby prize of having to work with NASA civil servants and processes.

  7. Uh oh, the computer questions are very ‘duh’ and mechanical engineering ones are .. good for high school level ? No wonder they cant get their struts counted

  8. Years ago, I interviewed a few times at Micro$oft. Each time grilled by about half a dozen kids. I came away thinking I wouldn’t hire any of them. There lack of life experience and social skills being the main problem.

    After a while, ya get tired of training new bosses.

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