Software Engineer Interview Experience - Hawthorne, California
Process
The first round was a 30-minute call. The first half focused on behavioral questions, inquiring about your previous experience both professionally and within organizations. The second half was technical, covering C++ structure and memory management.
The second round is an open-note online assessment (OA) for one problem. You are given 24 hours from the start time. The question I received was luckily easy compared to others.
The third round involves completing a Word document describing your education status and your four largest accomplishments in bullet-point form (1-2 sentences for each accomplishment).
Questions
How would you direct C to put data in a stack versus on a heap?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 35 interview experiences for the SpaceX Software Engineer role in Hawthorne, California.
Success Rate
SpaceX's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Hawthorne, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for SpaceX's Software Engineer interview process in Hawthorne, California.
SpaceX Work Experiences
- 5.0Tremendous ImpactSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, WAJanuary 4, 2024Pros: * Draws literal geniuses who thrive in solving extremely challenging problems but are also fun to be around * Highly collaborative team environment with a focus on a shared mission and purpose * No time for politics, bs, or whining * No deadweights. Expectation of strong autonomy, ownership, and contribution even at the new grad level. * SpaceX stock is highly sought after by investors. The company holds twice-a-year liquidity events which allow employees to sell equity grants and ESPPs at significant gains. Unlike other startups, SpaceX stock is not paper money.Cons: Lack of predictability in daily workload means that it can be difficult to find time to reboot.
- 4.0Strong ownership, logical decisions, competent teammates/managersSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeOctober 3, 2025Pros: Strong ownership of the work that you do. It is a very energetic environment to work in. Strong stock comp outlook.Cons: Not a fantastic work life balance.
- 2.0Sink or Swim (usually sink)Software Engineer • Current EmployeeRedmond, WAApril 2, 2025Pros: Full end-to-end ownership of work. Work with extremely skilled people. Diversify skills. The work is constantly changing.Cons: You get pulled in many directions at once and are expected to execute at the highest level for all of them. You rarely get the time to stop and get really good at one thing, and are often too spread out. Everyone is being pulled in many directions, which results in a stressful and often blunt/harsh environment. There are barely any women...
