Structures Intern Interview Experience - Hawthorne, California
Process
I had received a phone interview. It was very technical, with principles based in Mechanical Engineering. These ranged from optimizing the cross-section of a beam to discussing buckling load, to some brain teasers.
My resume was briefly looked over, but I did not get a chance to talk much about it.
Questions
The most difficult question was the one on buckling, which I had not learned yet.
For that reason, the interviewer asked me to piece together the equation for buckling load from intuition.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 2 interview experiences for the SpaceX Structures Intern role in Hawthorne, California.
Success Rate
SpaceX's interview process for their Structures Intern roles in Hawthorne, California is fairly selective, failing a large portion of engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for SpaceX's Structures Intern interview process in Hawthorne, California.
SpaceX Work Experiences
- 1.0Children as ManagersMechanical Engineer II • Current EmployeeBrownsville, TXMay 14, 2025Pros: Excellent pay and respect from the industry and your peers. Delicious Mexican food. If you like being isolated in the middle of nowhere, this is your place.Cons: Soul-crushing work-life imbalance. Horrible man-child management with no experience. No accountability anywhere. Toxic culture -- how toxic? Agent Orange. Dioxin. Cyanide.
- 4.0Super exciting place to workSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeHawthorne, CAMay 16, 2024Pros: High impact, awesome on the resume, a lot of trust, and super exciting.Cons: Above average work hours; you get on call
- 4.0Cool Hardware Long HoursLaunch Engineer • Former EmployeeCape Canaveral, FLJuly 5, 2024Pros: - A very motivated staff - Food is provided - Trauma bonding - It is easy to figure out who is responsible for what - Documentation is very easy to look through - Improving the process is encouraged - Management helps with blockers - Meetings are shortCons: - You are disposable. - You work 50+ hours a week. - Trauma (stress dreams are common). - You will have to triage between your responsibilities (that are all on fire lol). - Excessive documentation has to be created to do work. - It can take an act of congress to make a simple change. - Management sets overly aggressive goals and wonders why there is burnout.
