Shield AI

Mechanical Engineer Interview Experience - San Diego, California

October 3, 2018

Positive ExperienceGot Offer

Process

I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks.

The interview spanned most of the day. The majority of the time was spent with various hardware team members. I gave a presentation, took a 60-minute test, and discussed my results with some of the team. I also had various 1-on-1s with two of the managers, and sat down with the CEO and COO to make sure that I understood Shield and that I'd be a good cultural fit.

Questions

Outline a design for a stowable propeller guard, with more constraints given and fifteen minutes provided to think about this.

Take fifteen minutes to get as far as you can replicating a table fan in the CAD program of your choice.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Shield AI Mechanical Engineer role in San Diego, California.

Success Rate

100%

Pass Rate

Shield AI's interview process for their Mechanical Engineer roles in San Diego, California is incredibly easy as the vast majority of engineers get an offer after going through it.

Experience Rating

Positive100%

Neutral0%

Negative0%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Shield AI's Mechanical Engineer interview process in San Diego, California.

Shield AI Work Experiences

Junior Level Engineering

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

January 19, 2025

Pros: It is a very cool mission. There are exciting developmental projects. The role is well compensated.

Cons: Work-life balance does not exist. Development of junior engineers does not seem to be a focus.

Junior Level Engineering

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

January 19, 2025

Pros: It is a very cool mission. There are exciting developmental projects. The role is well compensated.

Cons: Work-life balance does not exist. Development of junior engineers does not seem to be a focus.

Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.

Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.

Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

I love Shield.ai

Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee

December 4, 2024

Pros: Best Engineers I've ever worked with. Passionate co-workers. There is no shortage of cool work to do.

Cons: The people here are dedicated to thier work, if you don't have a passion for what Shield does and your not willing to work more than a normal 40 hour week to accomplish a goal you are passionate about, then Shield may not be the place for you.

I love Shield.ai

Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee

December 4, 2024

Pros: Best Engineers I've ever worked with. Passionate co-workers. There is no shortage of cool work to do.

Cons: The people here are dedicated to thier work, if you don't have a passion for what Shield does and your not willing to work more than a normal 40 hour week to accomplish a goal you are passionate about, then Shield may not be the place for you.

Junior Level Engineering

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

January 19, 2025

Pros: It is a very cool mission. There are exciting developmental projects. The role is well compensated.

Cons: Work-life balance does not exist. Development of junior engineers does not seem to be a focus.

4.0
Junior Level Engineering
Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee
Frisco, TX
January 19, 2025
Pros: It is a very cool mission. There are exciting developmental projects. The role is well compensated.
Cons: Work-life balance does not exist. Development of junior engineers does not seem to be a focus.

Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.

Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.

Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

1.0
Bottom Rung Leadership all they way to the Top. Please do not apply here.
Mechanical Engineer • Former Employee
Frisco, TX
June 21, 2023
Pros: Building UAV drones looks and sounds awesome. The VBAT is a tech marvel that is changing the world for the better. UAV's and drones have always been a passion of mine and it was so cool having a career in a field I was passionate about and seeing VBAT grow from humble beginnings.
Cons: From less than 50 employees when I joined, the company had a scrappy can do attitude and accomplished amazing feats with minimal resources. Now to close to 600 employees, Shield AI is now a corporate being, wealthy yes, but plagued with slow moving processes, endless meetings and almost nothing gets done. Management feels like they have a target on their back so they push their employees hard. This is enforced with mandatory 50hr workweek minimums with no overtime but a vague threat that time cards will be reviewed in performance evaluations. Management pushes unreasonable timelines crammed with useless feature additions that suck time and detract from the end result. Brining up or pushing back on the point that that what is being asked is pushing the project backwards gets you labeled as combative. I was told that my boss is right, even when he is not right, he is your boss, end of story. We had provided lunches at one point but they got taken away.

I love Shield.ai

Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee

December 4, 2024

Pros: Best Engineers I've ever worked with. Passionate co-workers. There is no shortage of cool work to do.

Cons: The people here are dedicated to thier work, if you don't have a passion for what Shield does and your not willing to work more than a normal 40 hour week to accomplish a goal you are passionate about, then Shield may not be the place for you.

5.0
I love Shield.ai
Senior Software Engineer • Current Employee
Washington, DC
December 4, 2024
Pros: Best Engineers I've ever worked with. Passionate co-workers. There is no shortage of cool work to do.
Cons: The people here are dedicated to thier work, if you don't have a passion for what Shield does and your not willing to work more than a normal 40 hour week to accomplish a goal you are passionate about, then Shield may not be the place for you.

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