How to Get Hired at Tesla: Interview Process, Tips
  • Tesla attracted more than 3.6 million purposes in 2022.
  • Tesla’s hiring procedure can entail up to 9 interviews, a presentation, and a letter to Elon Musk.
  • 10 Tesla engineers broke down the approach and gave guidelines for getting a task at Musk’s organization.

Thousands and thousands of men and women are lining up to get the job done for Tesla.

The electrical carmaker explained it obtained far more than 3.6 million programs in 2022. But engineers at Tesla say it really is no small feat to land a job at Elon Musk’s most well-known company.

Tesla’s hiring course of action for engineers can have to have as numerous as 9 interviews, a series of checks, and in some conditions, a letter to Musk himself.

Organization Insider spoke with 10 latest Tesla engineers about what it normally takes to function at the business. The staff spoke below the ailment of anonymity to safeguard their work, but their identities and roles at Tesla have been verified by BI.

Numerous engineers stated it took a number of attempts to land a position at the business, and the method could be laborious. Commonly, candidates need to commence from the beginning of the system when making use of for a new position externally.

From start to finish, it can get up to six months to get an supply letter.

The initially stage in the software approach is very typical

Tesla commonly responds to a successful application by placing up an job interview with a recruiter or a human-sources employee.

Tesla engineers mentioned they secured an initial interview by possibly sending their résumé into an application on Tesla’s professions page, chatting with a Tesla agent at a networking celebration, or obtaining a colleague pass along their résumé through the firm’s inside advice system.

“Sometimes it actually is who you know at Tesla,” just one engineer who has labored at the organization for 6 a long time explained. “It allows to go to a feeder college or university exactly where a classmate can support endorse you for a role.”

Recruiters usually sift by way of thousands of applications, offering interviews to a utmost of only 20 or so candidates, in accordance to 4 engineers who’ve been included in the employing course of action. Only about 50 percent of people candidates would make it to the following action, they explained.


tesla fremont factory

Tesla employs more than 140,000 people today globally.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Illustrations or photos



After the preliminary tradition-in good shape interview — which contains classic questions about why folks want to operate at Tesla and how they jibe with other people — candidates who progress commonly chat independently with a manager and at the very least 1 engineer from their future workforce. These interviews are more technological and occasionally include a consider-property or stay exam.

“Tesla normally takes a no-bullshit tactic,” just one engineer instructed BI. “At other organizations, you can at times get away with expressing a thing to audio outstanding. You are not able to do that at Tesla. If you never know some thing, own up to it simply because they will normally question the abide by-up issues.”

Panel interviews can very last up to 6 hours

The upcoming move in Tesla’s employing process consists of a presentation and a collection of fast-fireplace interviews that can consider any where from 4 to 6 several hours.

Applicants are typically advised to present on a prior task for 15 to 30 minutes, followed by a Q&A session on the project. Tesla workers stated it was finest for early-vocation applicants to current on university team initiatives or personal ventures.

4 to 6 engineers sit in on the presentation and later on break off to job interview the applicant on their personal for about 30 minutes each.

“We try to go away it rather open up-ended since it truly is a great way to locate crimson flags,” an engineer who has been involved in the recruiting procedure mentioned regarding the presentation prompt. “We notify them not to present something private, and which is the greatest red flag if they present a little something like that. It’s an effortless no if we know they will not likely be trusted.”

Some Tesla engineers reported they invested extra than 40 several hours getting ready for the presentation over the class of various months. The panel can get place over Zoom or in particular person. It also features a shorter break in the middle of the session to give panelists time to choose lunch.


A red Tesla outside a Tesla showroom.

Tesla claimed it acquired additional than 3.6 million applications in 2022.

JOHN THYS / Getty



“You require to make certain you know the specialized specifics of your venture within and out,” just one engineer reported. “It isn’t going to have to be the most sophisticated tech so prolonged as you can talk about what you’ve carried out in wonderful detail. You will need to be capable to tell them why you approached it the way you did and tackle other strategies of carrying out it as very well.”

1 engineer with know-how of the procedure said that following the panel, the staff would fulfill to give a “blind vote” on the applicant, which means the panelists all submit their scores at the moment. Candidates are scored on a scale of just one to 4. The engineer reported that if a one panel member ended up to give the candidate a score of a person and could again up their opinion, the individual’s application would generally be rejected, while a score of a a few or a 4 would be seen as a indication of acceptance for the prospective use.

Two engineers claimed only about 50 percent the applicants who built it to the panel stage would be chosen.

Sit tight — it could get 6 months to land the task

Depending on the role, some candidates are presented the position following a profitable panel job interview. For higher-degree positions, the candidates can go on to job interview with director or VP-stage workers.

Three personnel claimed some candidates were expected to fill out a sort that would be despatched to a VP or director-stage employee outlining 3 causes they would be a great suit for Tesla. Some of the notes would even be handed onto Musk, the engineers stated. Last yr, the Tesla CEO stated in an email to team that he need to approve all new hires.

From start out to finish, the entire system could acquire anywhere from 1 to six months, the engineers stated. 7 engineers said Tesla experienced the most intense software approach they’d witnessed in the market.

“Half the time, we skip out mainly because we’re too slow,” an engineer with awareness of the choosing process claimed. “We know it, but it’s set up in some approaches to obtain the men and women who are so gung-ho they are willing to wait around. They are individuals who’d almost certainly get a better foundation pay back at a distinct company, but they have the possibility to funds in on Tesla inventory way too.”

A Tesla spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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