Tesla

Mechanical Design Engineer Interview Experience

September 12, 2024

Neutral ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I completed a first-round, 45-minute technical interview.

It was over video call. After a very brief check-in about my past experience and why I was interested at a surface level in the position (they didn't ask me "Why Tesla?" like I was expecting), they jumped into technical questions.

Questions

Given the common specs for an EV (battery specs were chosen from a random Google-able EV), would you be able to make it on a full charge from point A to point B?

It's X miles away, and you can ask me any questions you'd like.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 97 interview experiences for the Tesla Mechanical Design Engineer role in United States.

Success Rate

20%

Pass Rate

Tesla's interview process for their Mechanical Design Engineer roles in the United States is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive54%

Neutral35%

Negative11%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Tesla's Mechanical Design Engineer interview process in United States.

Tesla Work Experiences

What you do as an intern in a Vehicle Engineering team

Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee

Fremont, California, United States

December 12, 2021

Pros: Get to work with several multi-functional, inter-disciplinary teams over the course of your internship. Get to work on actual parts that go on the car and not some "in-the-air" project that ends up nowhere. Opportunity to use and grow core engineering skills, especially as a mechanical engineer.

Cons: Be prepared to be overworked at times. There's a lot going on there, so sometimes your role/work is not clearly defined; you have to do what it takes to make things happen.

What you do as an intern in a Vehicle Engineering team

Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee

Fremont, California, United States

December 12, 2021

Pros: Get to work with several multi-functional, inter-disciplinary teams over the course of your internship. Get to work on actual parts that go on the car and not some "in-the-air" project that ends up nowhere. Opportunity to use and grow core engineering skills, especially as a mechanical engineer.

Cons: Be prepared to be overworked at times. There's a lot going on there, so sometimes your role/work is not clearly defined; you have to do what it takes to make things happen.

Great company to grow with, but beware of layoffs

Mechanical Design Engineer • Current Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

Pros: - Exponential growth curve - Good work satisfaction

Cons: - Poor work-life balance. - Possibility of layoffs (but don't let my experience be the sole factor in your decision; if you have the opportunity to work there, pursue it! Having their name on your resume is highly beneficial, but more importantly, it fosters immense growth and learning in a short period!)

Great company to grow with, but beware of layoffs

Mechanical Design Engineer • Current Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

Pros: - Exponential growth curve - Good work satisfaction

Cons: - Poor work-life balance. - Possibility of layoffs (but don't let my experience be the sole factor in your decision; if you have the opportunity to work there, pursue it! Having their name on your resume is highly beneficial, but more importantly, it fosters immense growth and learning in a short period!)

Supported Learning, Siloed Work

Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

October 11, 2023

Pros: Treat you like a full-time employee in terms of projects and work intensity, but support you as though you are still learning.

Cons: Work is starting to become siloed.

Supported Learning, Siloed Work

Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

October 11, 2023

Pros: Treat you like a full-time employee in terms of projects and work intensity, but support you as though you are still learning.

Cons: Work is starting to become siloed.

What you do as an intern in a Vehicle Engineering team

Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee

Fremont, California, United States

December 12, 2021

Pros: Get to work with several multi-functional, inter-disciplinary teams over the course of your internship. Get to work on actual parts that go on the car and not some "in-the-air" project that ends up nowhere. Opportunity to use and grow core engineering skills, especially as a mechanical engineer.

Cons: Be prepared to be overworked at times. There's a lot going on there, so sometimes your role/work is not clearly defined; you have to do what it takes to make things happen.

4.0
What you do as an intern in a Vehicle Engineering team
Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee
Fremont, California, United States
December 12, 2021
Pros: Get to work with several multi-functional, inter-disciplinary teams over the course of your internship. Get to work on actual parts that go on the car and not some "in-the-air" project that ends up nowhere. Opportunity to use and grow core engineering skills, especially as a mechanical engineer.
Cons: Be prepared to be overworked at times. There's a lot going on there, so sometimes your role/work is not clearly defined; you have to do what it takes to make things happen.

Great company to grow with, but beware of layoffs

Mechanical Design Engineer • Current Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

Pros: - Exponential growth curve - Good work satisfaction

Cons: - Poor work-life balance. - Possibility of layoffs (but don't let my experience be the sole factor in your decision; if you have the opportunity to work there, pursue it! Having their name on your resume is highly beneficial, but more importantly, it fosters immense growth and learning in a short period!)

4.0
Great company to grow with, but beware of layoffs
Mechanical Design Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
July 4, 2022
Pros: - Exponential growth curve - Good work satisfaction
Cons: - Poor work-life balance. - Possibility of layoffs (but don't let my experience be the sole factor in your decision; if you have the opportunity to work there, pursue it! Having their name on your resume is highly beneficial, but more importantly, it fosters immense growth and learning in a short period!)

Supported Learning, Siloed Work

Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

October 11, 2023

Pros: Treat you like a full-time employee in terms of projects and work intensity, but support you as though you are still learning.

Cons: Work is starting to become siloed.

5.0
Supported Learning, Siloed Work
Mechanical Design Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
October 11, 2023
Pros: Treat you like a full-time employee in terms of projects and work intensity, but support you as though you are still learning.
Cons: Work is starting to become siloed.

Tesla Interview Questions

Course Schedule

Determine if it is possible to finish all courses given prerequisite relationships between them. Essentially, detect if a cycle exists in the course dependencies.

GraphsRecursion

Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters

Find the length of the longest substring within a given string that contains no repeating characters. The substring must be contiguous.

StringsTwo PointersSliding Windows

Minimum Changes To Make Alternating Binary String

Determine the fewest modifications needed to transform a binary string into an alternating pattern (e.g., "0101" or "1010"). You can change '0' to '1' or '1' to '0'.

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