Author Topic: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions  (Read 46209 times)

Offline bob the martian

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #40 on: 05/08/2017 04:57 pm »
IMO Nobody wants to be a slave. I've looked into the company for a while. Seems they work you to death for low wages, 6 day work weeks are common even without a looming launch, 7 day work weeks are common near launch window.

<snip>

Bad pay, Bad hours, and meager benefits add up to a bad work environment,

<snip>

I'm in academic medical research, sounds exactly like my job. People who are passionate about their jobs don't care about these things. I don't.

Yup.  I was in high tech. Did startups.  Can be tough.  SpaceX embraces the Silicon Valley startup culture and work ethic.  It's not for everyone. You need to be psyched to make that kind of a life commitment. Fortunately, SpaceX has a mission goal that energizes many young tech types.

You have to be passionate about your work over and above just about everything else.  I've never been that passionate - I do what I do to keep a roof over my head and food on the table, but there are just too many other things I want to do outside of my work life.  It's clear that most of the people at SpaceX are really jazzed about their jobs (and justfiably so), which goes a long way towards making up for long hours and low pay, and I'm glad that they enjoy what they do, but even if I were 25 and single again I wouldn't touch that work environment with a barge pole. 

Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #41 on: 05/08/2017 05:54 pm »
 I've been a pain in the butt to everyone I've ever worked for. But I've never whined about hours, working 30 seconds off the clock to finish something, things that need doing not being my job or the boss not giving me a hug when I was stressed. I realized early that the rule was "If you don't like it, fix it or live with it". Bosses do tend to like results and it let me do pretty much what I wanted, both in military and civilian life, and retire at 58 to sit in the wilderness, watching the future get built. (really slowly at times)
 The short version relating to SpaceX being, "You get out what you put in." If you want union rules, predictable jobs and hours and the understanding that the company works for you, don't waste their time.

 Decide what stories you want to tell your grandkids when you're done.
« Last Edit: 05/30/2017 05:46 am by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline Darren_Hensley

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #42 on: 05/09/2017 01:28 am »
Glad my comments and observations sparked such heated and lengthy discussion. This is all very good for anyone wanting multiple opinions. Thanks everyone.
BSNCM Devry, MAITM Webster, MSSS & MSAP SFA
H-10-K Enterprises Gateway Station

Offline QuantumG

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #43 on: 05/09/2017 02:09 am »
I went through LA the other week, 7 hour layover, so I made the trek to SpaceX and prayed at the foot of the booster. Eventually I had enough and called an Uber. Carlos picks me up and says "how long have you worked at SpaceX?" I explained I was just a tourist. He continues to say that he thought he didn't recognise me. I ask if he picks up at lot of people from SpaceX. He explains that he cooks in the cafeteria and drives Uber for extra money. We chatted about rockets for 20 minutes in LA traffic. I ate a pizza and went back to the airport. Thrilling, I know.

Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

Offline Lars-J

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SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #44 on: 05/09/2017 07:12 am »
I went through LA the other week, 7 hour layover, so I made the trek to SpaceX and prayed at the foot of the booster.

This is a pilgrimage that every believer should undertake at least once.  ;D  ;)

On a serious note, was it worth the ride trip? Did the boosters seem different than you imagined? I plan to drive by next time I drive through LA.
« Last Edit: 05/09/2017 07:14 am by Lars-J »

Offline QuantumG

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #45 on: 05/09/2017 07:22 am »
This is a pilgrimage that every believer should undertake at least once.  ;D  ;)

It was better than staring at the boarding gate.

Quote from: Lars-J
On a serious note, was it worth the ride trip? Did the boosters seem different than you imagined? I plan to drive by next time I drive through LA.

Stop and get out, take a walk up to it... the feeling of the height of the booster can really be appreciated. I'd seen a bunch of the landing legs legs before, same with the engines, but not connected to the stage.
Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

Offline vt_hokie

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #46 on: 05/09/2017 02:47 pm »

You have to be passionate about your work over and above just about everything else.  I've never been that passionate - I do what I do to keep a roof over my head and food on the table, but there are just too many other things I want to do outside of my work life.  It's clear that most of the people at SpaceX are really jazzed about their jobs (and justfiably so), which goes a long way towards making up for long hours and low pay, and I'm glad that they enjoy what they do, but even if I were 25 and single again I wouldn't touch that work environment with a barge pole. 

You don't work for an Elon Musk to become an Elon Musk - that much I have learned!  Wanna be out on the town dating supermodels and living like a socialite?  Gotta get into that billionaire ownership class.  (Not that I have any desire to live that superficial life - but I do want to travel and have some adventure.  Cycling, traveling, exploring - that's what I live for, so definitely put me in the work to live rather than live to work category.)

Offline gospacex

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #47 on: 05/09/2017 03:27 pm »
It's clear that most of the people at SpaceX are really jazzed about their jobs (and justfiably so), which goes a long way towards making up for long hours and low pay

"Low pay" is relative. In Russian space industry, workers make $500-$700 per month.
While food, everyday clothing, phones and other gadgets nowadays cost about the same everywhere in the world.

Offline vt_hokie

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #48 on: 05/09/2017 05:06 pm »
"Low pay" is relative. In Russian space industry, workers make $500-$700 per month.
While food, everyday clothing, phones and other gadgets nowadays cost about the same everywhere in the world.

Good pitch line for encouraging young folks to go into STEM fields - the hours are long and the pay is low, but hey, you could always be in a Russian gulag!  :)

Offline AncientU

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #49 on: 06/16/2017 11:52 pm »
IMO Nobody wants to be a slave. I've looked into the company for a while. Seems they work you to death for low wages, 6 day work weeks are common even without a looming launch, 7 day work weeks are common near launch window.

They have higher than normal expectations for entry level positions, they want higher than normal quantities of experience for skilled labor work, and tech jobs like IT are out sourced 60% of the time.

Bad pay, Bad hours, and meager benefits add up to a bad work environment, it would seem only the management positions are worth having. I also heard from a shaky source 40% of the interns are washed out late in the game, who wants to go that far just to be handed a pink slip?
For a company that needs bodies, they act like have enough. IMO

SpaceX rated quite poorly on Glass Door in the past. But they seem to have lifted their game a bit in recent months.

New article on Intern experiences via Glass Door:
Sample:
Quote
— Propulsion development engineer intern in Hawthorne, Calif.

“You go to work every morning at a rocket factory. Just think about that for a second”

“The culture here is just amazing. The bulk of the Hawthorne office is laid out with an open floor plan, so you’re working in the close vicinity of hundreds of other engineers who are just as passionate as you about the company. Just standing up from your desk, you can look across the entire office floor and see the hustle and bustle of everyone working on different things.

“You are working alongside some of the most talented engineers in the world. Find any employee to talk to and it is guaranteed they have swaths of knowledge to share with you of which you knew nothing about before.

“Great employee benefits. Subsidized meals (and you never have to eat the same thing twice) and company swag, free coffee and froyo?! This one speaks for itself.

http://insideevs.com/first-hand-accounts-interning-tesla-spacex/


Maybe not for everybody, but fantastic professional growth opportunity.
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

Offline Mariusuiram

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #50 on: 06/17/2017 09:06 pm »
People choose to do what they want and get paid what they want. Anyone making 6 figures has choices. No one is getting tricked. We all make decisions about maximising / focusing on different aspects of our personal, professional, and financial life.

This whole debate could have started and ended with:

- "SpaceX pays slightly below similar aerospace firms and has higher expectations in terms of workload / pressure / learning as you go"

- "Yes that seems to be true. I guess people chose to work there despite all that. It seems awfully similar to other passion jobs especially creative industries like architecture, design, journalism. People just want to be involved and arent simply maximising their salary"

- "Glad you agree with my observation."

The end.

Offline calapine

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #51 on: 06/19/2017 07:34 pm »
New article on Intern experiences via Glass Door:
Sample:
Quote
— Propulsion development engineer intern in Hawthorne, Calif.

“Great employee benefits. Subsidized meals (and you never have to eat the same thing twice) and company swag, free coffee and froyo?! This one speaks for itself.

http://insideevs.com/first-hand-accounts-interning-tesla-spacex/


Maybe not for everybody, but fantastic professional growth opportunity.

I would be suspicious of people who mention "free coffee" as a "great employee benefit" and reason to join. It's a perk at most.

Similarly, I haven't worked in the US, but company canteens, usually charging net cost price only, are absolutely standard for firms above a certain size.

Offline Nomadd

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #52 on: 06/19/2017 10:37 pm »
Did somebody really say "free coffee is a perk"?
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline QuantumG

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #53 on: 06/20/2017 12:30 am »
Weird. Maybe it's an IT thing but every office job I've ever had has basically force fed me coffee, or caffeine in some form. I'm sure they report it to accounting as an input to the process of creating programs. We put in the coffee and out comes the code!

 
Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

Offline joncz

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #54 on: 06/20/2017 03:54 pm »
We put in the coffee and out comes the code!

Caffeine.  They put in caffeine.  Coffee is nothing more than the transport. ;-)

Offline fthomassy

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #55 on: 06/20/2017 04:27 pm »
We put in the coffee and out comes the code!
Caffeine.  They put in caffeine.  Coffee is nothing more than the transport. ;-)
But my API is coffee.  It may (or may not) inherit, import or include caffeine but all I know is it works.  ;D

Yes, I'm more hack than programmer.  ::)
« Last Edit: 06/20/2017 04:27 pm by fthomassy »
gyatm . . . Fern

Offline Lar

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #56 on: 06/21/2017 12:05 am »
Similarly, I haven't worked in the US, but company canteens, usually charging net cost price only, are absolutely standard for firms above a certain size.
Not in the US based on my extensive experience with dozens and dozens and dozens of clients...

Having a cafeteria at all is an indicator that the site (or the whole firm if single sited) is a certain size, although I've been at small ones where food was a perk...

But more to your point, how much the food costs in the cafeteria (canteen) is an indicator of whether the company is "traditional" (lots of bureaucracy) or "agile/startup/silicon valley" mentality.  Most big corps nowadays see the cafeteria as a profit center not a perk... they farm out operations to a food service company.

All that said I don't see free coffee as a huge benefit.
"I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact." -Elon Musk
"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

Offline Lars-J

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #57 on: 06/21/2017 01:03 am »
All that said I don't see free coffee as a huge benefit.

Why are we concentrating on the 'free coffee' part? That seems to be the least of the perks listed.

Offline Lar

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #58 on: 06/21/2017 03:13 am »
All that said I don't see free coffee as a huge benefit.

Why are we concentrating on the 'free coffee' part? That seems to be the least of the perks listed.

Why are we talking about perks at all for that matter?   Anyway, Free Swag is FAR more valuable!  :)
"I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact." -Elon Musk
"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

Offline JAFO

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Re: SpaceX has hundreds of open job positions
« Reply #59 on: 06/21/2017 05:03 am »
The generation they're targeting is probably more interested in free Red Bulls than free coffee.




(But then again, Space X doesn't need wings where they're going.)
« Last Edit: 06/21/2017 05:05 am by JAFO »
Anyone can do the job when things are going right. In this business we play for keeps.
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