Even if you’re not interested in working for Tesla or SpaceX, CEO Elon Musk’s favorite interview questions are also important questions to consider. If you find a good answer, it can help you find your next performance in your next workplace.
Back in 2017, Musk asked all the candidates at the World Government Summit:
“Tell me some of the most difficult questions. Musk interviewed many engineers from Tesla and SpaceX, so this question is significant: I wanted to gradually understand how they solved difficult problems. ”
“At that time, the people who actually solved the problem according to the latest Inc. column, Musk’s question has solid scientific reasoning: those who really know what they’re talking about tend to give detailed presentations (sometimes detailed details), and those who have to rely on BS tend to cover up, better (they don’t know).
No matter where you are in the interview, no matter what type of job you are involved in, one thing should be clear: providing as much detailed information as possible will only help you, whether you are dealing with recruiters in the early stage or in at the end hiring managers in one round.
Most importantly, you’ll want to use all of these details to show how you can add value to your old business, overcome incredible challenges, and / or ultimately make a project better than what you find.
At the same time, you should also explain (in detail) how to use all your experience and knowledge to help your potential employer achieve their goals. This requires researching the company, the position, and the skills they are looking for. Remember, one of the most important ways technicians can mislead interviews is by failing to understand the hiring manager’s needs and pain points.
Before starting the interview, be sure to review some relevant stories from your professional experience. If you can, ask a trusted friend or colleague to listen; they can tell you if you want to omit the necessary details. If you know ahead of time that the interview will include a whiteboard or keyboard test, go through some sample coding questions to get the right mindset.
Returning to Musk for a moment: This is not the only question he conspicuously asks potential employees. As early as 2015, tech journalist Ashlee Vance’s CEO’s excellent resume indicated that he once posed a particularly confusing puzzle to would-be SpaceX engineers “knew exactly how to solve the problem and they knew a few small details,” he added at the time.
“You are standing on the surface of the earth. You walked a mile south, a mile west, a mile north. Eventually you will start from where you started. The answer is simple: the North Pole. As you can see in the comments when posting the question, there are many creative answers (“Still on Earth”, “Where the compass is broken”, etc.).
It’s unclear if Musk still asks candidates this question, but finding a job at SpaceX requires a series of interviews to test his skills and knowledge. After all, you are helping to build, launch a rocket and return it to Earth, so you really have to know your stuff.
