Test Engineer Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California
February 1, 2022
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
The interview process was fairly standard:
- A short call with a recruiter.
- A one-on-one interview with an engineer.
- A 90-minute test.
- A 30-minute presentation, followed by five 30-minute interviews.
The recruiter call was easy, with basic questions about why Tesla and my recent experience. The one-on-one interview was similar, focusing on my resume and technical approaches for test scenarios. The 90-minute test was also easy but took up nearly all the time. It was open book, which helped reduce stress. The final step was the most difficult, partly because I was very tired that afternoon. The questions were more technical and aimed to understand the limits of my knowledge by asking about how I solved problems on past projects.
Questions
Nearly all questions were about past projects.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 10 interview experiences for the Tesla Test Engineer role in Palo Alto, California.
Success Rate
20%
Pass Rate
Tesla's interview process for their Test Engineer roles in Palo Alto, California is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.
Experience Rating
Positive70%
Neutral20%
Negative10%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Tesla's Test Engineer interview process in Palo Alto, California.
Tesla Work Experiences
3.0
Learning Experience: Very smart coworkers. Frustrating environment
Test Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
March 1, 2013
Pros: - Great pastoral setting in Deer Creek with horses all around.
- Free cereal and soda.
- Smart and fun coworkers; lots of trips planned outside of work, hanging out, and exercising together.
- Oftentimes, you can get a lot of responsibility if you seek it.
- Opportunities to pick up many new skills if you are self-motivated.
Cons: - Very difficult to switch groups; internal mobility is low.
- Effective mentorship and growth opportunities are nonexistent for junior engineers. A lot of engineering is done "on the fly" by inexperienced people.
- Decisions from executive management often seem arbitrary and designed for short-term stock goals, as opposed to long-term strategy.
- Tendency to hire overqualified people for mundane tasks, not follow through on promises made during recruitment, and then fire those who get pigeon-holed into working on things well below their pay grade.
4.0
Good place to work
Test Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
June 18, 2021
Pros: Intense culture, but move quickly.
Cons: Lots of changes in priorities.
4.0
Great Place to Love Your Work
Test Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
September 24, 2017
Pros: It's really evident that people love their work and will do whatever it takes to get it done. Some people will happily work until 7 or 8 p.m. every day.
Communication is really unique at Tesla, and for a company of its size, there's a culture of free communication. As an intern, I would email and talk to senior managers and everyone else, if that was the right person to talk to.
Interns can be anything from people working on some really deep R&D projects to just another full-time employee.
Cons: The offices are very crowded, and sometimes resources are limited.
The work is very long, without some benefits of some of the other big companies in Palo Alto.
- 3.0Learning Experience: Very smart coworkers. Frustrating environmentTest Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesMarch 1, 2013Pros: - Great pastoral setting in Deer Creek with horses all around. - Free cereal and soda. - Smart and fun coworkers; lots of trips planned outside of work, hanging out, and exercising together. - Oftentimes, you can get a lot of responsibility if you seek it. - Opportunities to pick up many new skills if you are self-motivated.Cons: - Very difficult to switch groups; internal mobility is low. - Effective mentorship and growth opportunities are nonexistent for junior engineers. A lot of engineering is done "on the fly" by inexperienced people. - Decisions from executive management often seem arbitrary and designed for short-term stock goals, as opposed to long-term strategy. - Tendency to hire overqualified people for mundane tasks, not follow through on promises made during recruitment, and then fire those who get pigeon-holed into working on things well below their pay grade.
- 4.0Good place to workTest Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesJune 18, 2021Pros: Intense culture, but move quickly.Cons: Lots of changes in priorities.
- 4.0Great Place to Love Your WorkTest Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesSeptember 24, 2017Pros: It's really evident that people love their work and will do whatever it takes to get it done. Some people will happily work until 7 or 8 p.m. every day. Communication is really unique at Tesla, and for a company of its size, there's a culture of free communication. As an intern, I would email and talk to senior managers and everyone else, if that was the right person to talk to. Interns can be anything from people working on some really deep R&D projects to just another full-time employee.Cons: The offices are very crowded, and sometimes resources are limited. The work is very long, without some benefits of some of the other big companies in Palo Alto.
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