Appying for a Job at SpaceX

[ArbitraryConstant]

Standard disclaimer that the job reviews look to be from those who've left. Might get different answers from those who stayed.

The crazy hours is probably accurate.

[Lurker Steve]

There are some interesting reviews at http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Space-Exploration-Technologies-Reviews-E40371.htm

Standard disclaimer that the job reviews look to be from those who've left. Might get different answers from those who stayed.

cheers, Martin

haha, the last two reviewers have definitely been fired 

My take from the reviews is that SpaceX pays at the low end of the scale. These engineers are sticking with the company because of the carrot of the big payoff from the IPO. What happens to these people once they get the big payoff ? Many companies, including mine, expect you to work 50+ hours per week. This isn't considered "overtime", just your normal work week.

Those 50+ hour work weeks occasionally stretch to 60-70 hr weeks during crunch time. "Crunch" time shouldn't last for months on end. That just leads to burn-out. Those additional hours after the first 50 are also much less productive.

When I interview someone, I am much more interested in what they have done and if they understand what they were doing, rather than just their GPA. How many entry level jobs can there be at SpaceX ?

[dcporter]

If you have way too many applicants for a position, gpa is the easy slice to make. You're going to cut some highly qualified candidates, but you're going to end up with a pool with a better ratio of qualified to unqualified. GPA may not be a good way to judge the two resumes in front of you, but it's probably a very effective way to judge the 1,000 resumes in front of you.

[QuantumG]

Also, you could try persistence. Apparently they even turned down Ken Bowersox the first time he applied. See http://moonandback.com/2012/01/12/moonandback-interview-with-ken-bowersox-part-2-a-job-at-spacex/

[Lurker Steve]

If you have way too many applicants for a position, gpa is the easy slice to make. You're going to cut some highly qualified candidates, but you're going to end up with a pool with a better ratio of qualified to unqualified. GPA may not be a good way to judge the two resumes in front of you, but it's probably a very effective way to judge the 1,000 resumes in front of you.

After you have a couple / ten years experience under your belt, what happened in college means next to nothing. What have you learned since leaving college ? If you don't have a good answer for that one, apply somewhere else.

If you only have college on your resume, then you are applying for an entry-level position. Sure, GPA matters, but I start weaning out candidates based on where they went to school.

[deltaV]

Does anyone know if SpaceX is closer to 50-60 hours per week or 70-80 hours per week?

[iamlucky13]

There are some interesting reviews at http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Space-Exploration-Technologies-Reviews-E40371.htm

Standard disclaimer that the job reviews look to be from those who've left. Might get different answers from those who stayed.

cheers, Martin

If the company is run like I think it is (in many ways similar to my current employer, from what I gather, but taken to a further extreme), then whether SpaceX is a good fit for someone depends very highly on the person. I suspect the reviews are pretty fair, but from widely varying perspectives.

An environment where you're expected to stick your neck out and make decisions on systems you have the education to understand, but haven't dealt with professionally in a way that can cost the company millions of dollars if you're wrong before can be extremely stressful. Add in long hours and you need a certain type of employee to flourish.

Almost everyone else will be miserable. Potential candidates reading the negative reviews should be aware of possible bitterness, but not look past the cause of the poor review. Claims about favoritism are hard to substantiate, but long hours, mediocre pay, and limited tutelage are criticisms that seem to be consistently noted.

I was in the past very interested in working at SpaceX, but after getting some input from people currently working there, I focused most of my effort elsewhere. It sounds like a very demanding place.

When I interview someone, I am much more interested in what they have done and if they understand what they were doing, rather than just their GPA. How many entry level jobs can there be at SpaceX ?

I seriously doubt they're worrying about GPA's for experienced engineers, but you'd be surprised how many entry-level engineers a rapidly growing company can take. They could be taking the entry-level engineers, having them do a lot of the grunt work (ranging from detailing CAD models to setting up FEAs or populating spreadsheets to simply turning wrenches) for the engineers who were entry level a few years ago, and ending up with a home-grown hierarchy of experience.

In a company such as this, in fact, coming from a company that's developed bureaucratic ways, even though it's generally for good reasons, can be a serious liability.

* will be assertive about your preferred way of doing things

All correct except that one which can get one canned...

It depends on the boss. The best bosses encourage judicious independence.

[go4mars]

Just glancing through some of the 214 openings on the careers part of the SpaceX website to see if there were any unusual requirements (to try and glean an idea of what they might be planning (unsuccessfully btw)), and it looks like they need an electron beam welder who can weld inconel. 

Do they have existing parts that use iconel?  Or would this be for a some future system?

Thanks.

Also, when would the staff ramp-up for the stratolaunch F5 be likely to occur, and how many additional people will that likely involve? 

[strangequark]

Just glancing through some of the 214 openings on the careers part of the SpaceX website to see if there were any unusual requirements (to try and glean an idea of what they might be planning (unsuccessfully btw)), and it looks like they need an electron beam welder who can weld iconel. 

Do they have existing parts that use iconel?  Or would this be for a some future system?

Thanks.

Also, when would the staff ramp-up for the stratolaunch F5 be likely to occur, and how many additional people will that likely involve? 

It's "Inconel" (Iconel is a common misspelling), and it would be shocking to me if they didn't use it. It is extremely commonplace in "hot" parts.

[go4mars]

It's "Inconel" (Iconel is a common misspelling), and it would be shocking to me if they didn't use it. It is extremely commonplace in "hot" parts.

Gotcha.  Thanks.

[go4mars]

Of the current listings, only 10 are for Vandy launch site.  Does that seem about right?   

16 are for McGregor.

156 for Hawthorne.

1 for Washington DC.

Looks like about 30 open positions less than last count. 

Some "big company" positions in there too.  Like "creative designer".

[cuddihy]

Of the current listings, only 10 are for Vandy launch site.  Does that seem about right?   

16 are for McGregor.

156 for Hawthorne.

1 for Washington DC.

Looks like about 30 open positions less than last count. 

Some "big company" positions in there too.  Like "creative designer".

Vandy's only a 2.5-3 hr drive from Hawthorne.

[Robotbeat]

Of the current listings, only 10 are for Vandy launch site.  Does that seem about right?   
...

Presumably, a large portion of the staff of the Vandy site will be existing personnel that have had experience launching Falcon 9 at the Cape (and some who did Falcon 1 at Kwaj). It'd be a bad idea to have all new folk at Vandy.

[Jim]

Of the current listings, only 10 are for Vandy launch site.  Does that seem about right?   

Yes, only to watch general contractors build stuff.  To process missions, a need a magnitude more.

[cuddihy]

Of the current listings, only 10 are for Vandy launch site.  Does that seem about right?   

Yes, only to watch general contractors build stuff.  To process missions, a need a magnitude more.

So far they have 1 contracted VAFB F9 mission, hopefully by mid-2013  and 1 test FH by 2014 to be flown. They could do everything they currently need, maybe even through CASSIOPE launch, with mostly TD Hawthorne employees until they get some actual Vandenberg orders, right?

Money talks and the lack of positions at VAFB (good luck getting current Hawthorne employees to move up permanently) may indicate  SpaceX may not be serious about VAFB F9 in 2012 and FH in 2013.

Then again, maybe the positions are already filled. Hawthorneology aint exactly a precise science yet.

[savuporo]

  1. Keep things simple
  2. Recognize that you will fail; embrace it, and learn from it
  3. Iterate and refine.
  4. Move quickly

+ pragmatic solutions trump ideal and shoddy ones

[Jason1701]

SpaceX may not be serious about VAFB F9 in 2012 and FH in 2013.

I think a more reasonable prediction is F9-006-VAFB in mid-2013, FH in 2014. We know SpaceX is almost done with the hangar, and I have talked with people building the fluid handling systems.

[go4mars]

>3000 current employees and 233 open positions at the moment. 

This company seems to be getting bigger than Elon originally expected! 

I wonder where numbers might plateau.  5000?  10,000?  80,000?  I guess it all depends on the plans we know very little detail of.  (churning out electric hypersonic jets? BFR's?  Dragon 3's?  level of automation?)  ...


Are electron beam welders common at most aerospace companies the size of SpaceX? 

[Step55]

Article by Slate.com - What Is It Like to Work With Elon Musk?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2013/08/14/elon_musk_what_is_it_like_to_work_for_the_spacex_tesla_chief.html

[Retired Downrange]

Via FB

SpaceX
We are excited to launch the brand new Careers at SpaceX Facebook page!

Hit "like" for updates on new openings, tips for getting your foot in the door, and what you might expect working at SpaceX.

http://www.facebook.com/CareersAtSpaceX