Tesla

Reliability Engineer Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California

May 1, 2019

Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I had two phone interviews, followed by the on-site. Most of the on-site interview questions were irrelevant to the position. The interview itself was a fairly standard, five-hour affair.

I gave a presentation in the morning, followed by a pretty tough and far-reaching technical interview.

Questions

When we have a circuit with given I and V, what is R?

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Tesla Reliability Engineer role in Palo Alto, California.

Success Rate

0%

Pass Rate

Tesla's interview process for their Reliability Engineer roles in Palo Alto, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive0%

Neutral0%

Negative100%

Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Tesla's Reliability Engineer interview process in Palo Alto, California.

Tesla Work Experiences

Excellent opportunities if you search hard enough, but the high turnover exists for a reason

Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

Pros: If you're talented at social engineering, Tesla is a great place to make connections. It's a large company with a diverse range of personalities and talents, and there are some true gems in the haystack. Once you find out who those people are, get in their good graces and start absorbing like a sponge. Finding a good manager to report to at Tesla isn't easy, but if you manage to find one, you can have a successful career while also avoiding the 60-hour weeks that many managers at the company will expect of you.

Cons: Some of the worst worker appreciation I've ever seen in my decades of work. I watched a lot of employees get taken wholly advantage of. Some managers are excellent, but others will lean hard into any shred of imposter syndrome to get people working nights and weekends without a single thank you. False promises abound. Promotions are often based on favoritism instead of merit. This leads to an environment that promotes "yes-men" and hurts the company in the long term. Productivity is often valued over growth, and the consequence is that many employees are treated as consumables to be juiced and thrown away rather than treated as long-term investments at the company. Compensation in general is quite poor relative to comparable positions at other companies, so expect to take a serious pay cut. With the same talent and resume, it's not uncommon to find a position somewhere else that pays 30-50% more and treats you well. In the past, Tesla was a great resume builder, so the tradeoff might have been worth it. These days, the reputation is different, and the company doesn't attract the same talent. Come to Tesla if you're dying to work on electric cars and you can't get in at one of the competitors. Don't come to Tesla if you want to be appreciated for your contributions.

Excellent opportunities if you search hard enough, but the high turnover exists for a reason

Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

Pros: If you're talented at social engineering, Tesla is a great place to make connections. It's a large company with a diverse range of personalities and talents, and there are some true gems in the haystack. Once you find out who those people are, get in their good graces and start absorbing like a sponge. Finding a good manager to report to at Tesla isn't easy, but if you manage to find one, you can have a successful career while also avoiding the 60-hour weeks that many managers at the company will expect of you.

Cons: Some of the worst worker appreciation I've ever seen in my decades of work. I watched a lot of employees get taken wholly advantage of. Some managers are excellent, but others will lean hard into any shred of imposter syndrome to get people working nights and weekends without a single thank you. False promises abound. Promotions are often based on favoritism instead of merit. This leads to an environment that promotes "yes-men" and hurts the company in the long term. Productivity is often valued over growth, and the consequence is that many employees are treated as consumables to be juiced and thrown away rather than treated as long-term investments at the company. Compensation in general is quite poor relative to comparable positions at other companies, so expect to take a serious pay cut. With the same talent and resume, it's not uncommon to find a position somewhere else that pays 30-50% more and treats you well. In the past, Tesla was a great resume builder, so the tradeoff might have been worth it. These days, the reputation is different, and the company doesn't attract the same talent. Come to Tesla if you're dying to work on electric cars and you can't get in at one of the competitors. Don't come to Tesla if you want to be appreciated for your contributions.

Reliability Engineer Review

Reliability Engineer • Current Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

November 7, 2015

Pros: Good management, Interesting projects, Growth potential, Smart co-workers.

Cons: Below Average Salary, Long Work Hours

Reliability Engineer Review

Reliability Engineer • Current Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

November 7, 2015

Pros: Good management, Interesting projects, Growth potential, Smart co-workers.

Cons: Below Average Salary, Long Work Hours

Rewarding work but stressful

Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: - Flat hierarchy for faster decision-making - Leadership visibility for good work - Valet parking

Cons: - Meeting-heavy culture - Micromanagement

Rewarding work but stressful

Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: - Flat hierarchy for faster decision-making - Leadership visibility for good work - Valet parking

Cons: - Meeting-heavy culture - Micromanagement

Excellent opportunities if you search hard enough, but the high turnover exists for a reason

Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

Pros: If you're talented at social engineering, Tesla is a great place to make connections. It's a large company with a diverse range of personalities and talents, and there are some true gems in the haystack. Once you find out who those people are, get in their good graces and start absorbing like a sponge. Finding a good manager to report to at Tesla isn't easy, but if you manage to find one, you can have a successful career while also avoiding the 60-hour weeks that many managers at the company will expect of you.

Cons: Some of the worst worker appreciation I've ever seen in my decades of work. I watched a lot of employees get taken wholly advantage of. Some managers are excellent, but others will lean hard into any shred of imposter syndrome to get people working nights and weekends without a single thank you. False promises abound. Promotions are often based on favoritism instead of merit. This leads to an environment that promotes "yes-men" and hurts the company in the long term. Productivity is often valued over growth, and the consequence is that many employees are treated as consumables to be juiced and thrown away rather than treated as long-term investments at the company. Compensation in general is quite poor relative to comparable positions at other companies, so expect to take a serious pay cut. With the same talent and resume, it's not uncommon to find a position somewhere else that pays 30-50% more and treats you well. In the past, Tesla was a great resume builder, so the tradeoff might have been worth it. These days, the reputation is different, and the company doesn't attract the same talent. Come to Tesla if you're dying to work on electric cars and you can't get in at one of the competitors. Don't come to Tesla if you want to be appreciated for your contributions.

2.0
Excellent opportunities if you search hard enough, but the high turnover exists for a reason
Reliability Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
April 14, 2023
Pros: If you're talented at social engineering, Tesla is a great place to make connections. It's a large company with a diverse range of personalities and talents, and there are some true gems in the haystack. Once you find out who those people are, get in their good graces and start absorbing like a sponge. Finding a good manager to report to at Tesla isn't easy, but if you manage to find one, you can have a successful career while also avoiding the 60-hour weeks that many managers at the company will expect of you.
Cons: Some of the worst worker appreciation I've ever seen in my decades of work. I watched a lot of employees get taken wholly advantage of. Some managers are excellent, but others will lean hard into any shred of imposter syndrome to get people working nights and weekends without a single thank you. False promises abound. Promotions are often based on favoritism instead of merit. This leads to an environment that promotes "yes-men" and hurts the company in the long term. Productivity is often valued over growth, and the consequence is that many employees are treated as consumables to be juiced and thrown away rather than treated as long-term investments at the company. Compensation in general is quite poor relative to comparable positions at other companies, so expect to take a serious pay cut. With the same talent and resume, it's not uncommon to find a position somewhere else that pays 30-50% more and treats you well. In the past, Tesla was a great resume builder, so the tradeoff might have been worth it. These days, the reputation is different, and the company doesn't attract the same talent. Come to Tesla if you're dying to work on electric cars and you can't get in at one of the competitors. Don't come to Tesla if you want to be appreciated for your contributions.

Reliability Engineer Review

Reliability Engineer • Current Employee

Palo Alto, California, United States

November 7, 2015

Pros: Good management, Interesting projects, Growth potential, Smart co-workers.

Cons: Below Average Salary, Long Work Hours

4.0
Reliability Engineer Review
Reliability Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
November 7, 2015
Pros: Good management, Interesting projects, Growth potential, Smart co-workers.
Cons: Below Average Salary, Long Work Hours

Rewarding work but stressful

Reliability Engineer • Former Employee

Pros: - Flat hierarchy for faster decision-making - Leadership visibility for good work - Valet parking

Cons: - Meeting-heavy culture - Micromanagement

4.0
Rewarding work but stressful
Reliability Engineer • Former Employee
April 26, 2025
Pros: - Flat hierarchy for faster decision-making - Leadership visibility for good work - Valet parking
Cons: - Meeting-heavy culture - Micromanagement

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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