1st Round - Recruiter Screening Call
- Your resume jumped out is what got you here
- Consider this a "vibe" check, the recruiter speaks to potential recruits for a living, so it's easy for them to screen out the impostor engineers vs the ones that are who they say they are in their resume
- Make sure to be ready to talk about yourself and what's on your resume, and try to tie into how that would be valuable for the role they are reaching out to you for
2nd Round (schedule 1 week out) - Hiring Manager - Tesla Engineer Manager
- We had to reschedule the 1st at this because the manager simply didn't show up to the interview (nor did they give an excuse as to why - no email, txt, or phonecall. Eventaully we were able to reschedule for another week out - this gave more time to prep
- Teams call (no video, just audio), 30 minutes - if you go a little over, its usually a good indicator that you caught their attention
- Here, you have a window to discuss who you are, what you do, and speak on some of the relevant projects you've worked on in your current roles or previous positions, and showcase how you are valuable to Tesla
- Personality fit check is also performed here - most likely you'll be reporting to this person, so ensure you're coming off very friendly and as someone you would like to hire if YOU were the one interviewing them
3rd Round (scheduled 2 weeks out)- 4 Engineers (3 seniors + 1 manager)
- 3-hour-long interview with 1 x 30 minute lunch break
- 1st 30 minutes is you presenting something on YOUR topic of choice - not just pick ANY topic, make it relevant to the role you're applying for (this is the hard part). Preparation, preparation, preparation, I can't state this enough. Prepare your slides and ensure you're backing up your content with quantitative data! It doesn't matter how awesome your design is or how fast you process implementation unless we see the financial impact - this is particularly more relevant for senior-level roles.
- 4 x 30 minutes one-on-ones with each engineer about your presentation or other content. Make sure you are crisp in talking about your project. You're interviewing with engineers...so the questions are going to be very technically inclined.
- After the interview, it if went bad, they'll let you know the next day that they didn't want you. If you did good, you might not know until a few days or even weeks later. Ensure you're practicing proper etiquette when reaching our to recruiters about follow ups.
