I didn't get to a formal interview, but I had an awkward and somewhat worrisome call with a recruiter. She barely talked about any of the work SpaceX was doing and only grilled me with scripted questions about my past experience, then ambushed me with some random technical questions. She was clearly going through a sheet, as she couldn’t elaborate on the nuance of the questions beyond whether they were right or wrong. One particular question I remember had to do with cache performance, but she didn’t specify the kind of cache, making the answer indeterminable.

She also asked if I would work extra hours in a startup environment. Considering that SpaceX is not a startup, this was confusing and seemed like a red flag.

Ultimately, the pay was worse than my current level, so I backed out.

Are you willing to work 50 hours a week?

Willing to work in a startup environment.

Various Big O questions.