I first had a phone screen interview based on my resume, which I submitted at a career fair. They asked basic questions about my previous experiences and then if I knew some basic rocket propulsion concepts, such as defining thrust, Isp, and characteristic velocity. It was pretty straightforward, but I didn't really get a good vibe from the interviewer.

A few weeks later, they invited me to Texas for an onsite interview. The interview process consisted of an HR interview, a site tour, a lunch interview, and technical interviews.

The HR interview felt unprofessional. The interviewer was reluctant to answer my questions and gave very vague responses.

The site tour and lunch interview seemed quite good, although it appeared that everyone was some sort of manager. Apparently, there was a scheduling issue, so they canceled one of the technical interviews but had me sit around by myself for about an hour.

The technical interview didn't go so well. This was mostly because it seemed like two interviewers were asking conflicting questions, and I couldn't figure out what they wanted. We also discussed my research, but one interviewer was convinced that one of the claims I made about my research was false (which any expert in my field would actually know to be true).

The atmosphere seemed casual (everyone was in jeans and t-shirts), but I really got the feeling that everyone seemed a little edgy and perhaps even a little cliqueish. It sounded like the way they select candidates to offer jobs to is: once they narrow it down to the qualified applicants, they have some sort of vote on who they liked the best. It's possible I misunderstood, but if that is indeed the case, it seems unprofessional.

Everyone there has a "work first" attitude, and they definitely accomplish a lot of great things. However, even if I had been offered a job, I wouldn't have accepted it, since I don't love rockets enough to want to work on them 60+ hours a week in possibly unpleasant weather. For someone who loves rockets and is a workaholic, you would probably fit in fine. That's just not me.

What are ISP, C*, and Thrust?