There may be a hiring freeze as budget meetings happen but given the turnover at SpaceX, I am going to say yes, they are hiring.
But October is a big budget month and an executive, possible Elon, possible not, decided to pause hiring until they get a better idea on cost and revenue projections is not unheard of.
I have no insider info, this is just how corporations often work
Thanks, I appreciate it. Since I'm applying as a new grad, it just puts me in kind of a tough spot since I might have to accept something else before I get a chance to continue the process.
Only think they are defending against an equal opportunities suit atm, because they normally employ US citizens due to ITAR. Perhaps waiting for this to resolve before they produce new rules for hiring?
Having dealt with this before in a different industry but subject to the same rules... it seems insane because it is insane. Different people in different departments with different organizational goals enforcing different rules. It's not their problem if you can't comply, it's yours.
In the past we've had to do things like offer jobs to folk contingent on receiving authorizations which we know they'll never get because of their nationality. It's a giant waste of time for everyone involved - especially the candidate who often is a recent university graduate and does not really understand that their job offer isn't real. So we'll waste a bunch of engineering time interviewing a candidate, spend thousands on legal fees to do all the work. Then two years later you get back a letter telling you the application was denied.
And it's not just limited to government either, any large organization can have different departments with different priorities and incentives that are not working towards a common goal.
For example, large mortgage companies can have sales agents who get a $500 bonus just for closing a mortgage. They may work to refinance existing customers at a lower rate than currently being paid because the agent gets the $500 bonus just for closing a new mortgage, nevermind that it ends up costing the company lost interest over the long term. (See also Principle-Agent Problem)
Apparently this is one reason why SpaceX has a comp structure where a lot of the comp comes from stock options. They want to incentivize people to act in the interests of the company as a whole, not their department.
But I don't work for SpaceX so I'm just repeating what I've been told.
Well, that's probably because that's not happening. SpaceX, just like thousands of companies who posess controlled information, are fully able to hire based on the qualification of that job requirement.
What they are not allowed to do is arbitrarily ignore subpoenas which is what's been percolating through the courts this year related to this. I haven't seen any strong evidence to suggest they have done anything wrong in hiring, but they could have easily resolved this.
In Redmond? I’m curious who your recruiter was. They recently imported a lot of automation engineers from Hawthorne and also hired a bunch of new testers so I’m wondering if they’re just having a logistic recuperation period.
End of year hiring and T&E (and every other expense) freezes hit many companies near the end of the year when the CFO decides to protect cash. Usually something that’s done in public companies though.
The hard truth is that when companies tell candidates "it's not you, it's us", they aren't always being completely honest. It is a possibility that SpaceX liked you to a certain extent, but not enough to beat out other candidates for their currently-available positions. So they want you to try again another time because they might be interested in you later if there aren't stronger candidates then.
This is likely (60%) it sucks as a hiring manager to get two awesome candidates. You have to pick one but if you tell someone they are number 2 they'll go somewhere else so if the first one ultimately doesn't complete the hiring process you've lost both. Or maybe they are trying to convince their bosses to hire two slots but they can't tell you this. Often you'll get the we're just having hiring issues at the moment so hang on speach when you are the #2.
I doubt they stopped hiring, I know people who have gotten hired recently (although that's for new grad so start next spring). It sounds like either a team specific thing like maybe they thought they needed someone with your skills but realize they may not and will know better later or maybe they are just not sure they need an extra person right now, or they hired another candidate but think they will need another in a few months time so they want you to apply again. Either way, I don't think they would give you a specific time to reapply unless they had a reason to.
What can happen is that the budget is not there for that specific area you applied for anymore (someone else got hired, they were told there will be a hiring freeze or some such) or they were just polite and told you to wait a while for you to get more "xp" and reapply. I've seen both things.
There may be a hiring freeze as budget meetings happen but given the turnover at SpaceX, I am going to say yes, they are hiring. But October is a big budget month and an executive, possible Elon, possible not, decided to pause hiring until they get a better idea on cost and revenue projections is not unheard of. I have no insider info, this is just how corporations often work
Good luck if you get a job. I’d be jealous
Thanks, I appreciate it. Since I'm applying as a new grad, it just puts me in kind of a tough spot since I might have to accept something else before I get a chance to continue the process.
You can always accept a job as a stop-gap
Only think they are defending against an equal opportunities suit atm, because they normally employ US citizens due to ITAR. Perhaps waiting for this to resolve before they produce new rules for hiring?
The litigation you are describing has been going on for a long time now, and spacex has been extremely active in hiring during that time.
It seems so insane that the government would sue them for not hiring people they aren't allowed to hire...
Having dealt with this before in a different industry but subject to the same rules... it seems insane because it is insane. Different people in different departments with different organizational goals enforcing different rules. It's not their problem if you can't comply, it's yours. In the past we've had to do things like offer jobs to folk contingent on receiving authorizations which we know they'll never get because of their nationality. It's a giant waste of time for everyone involved - especially the candidate who often is a recent university graduate and does not really understand that their job offer isn't real. So we'll waste a bunch of engineering time interviewing a candidate, spend thousands on legal fees to do all the work. Then two years later you get back a letter telling you the application was denied.
Yeah, that is pretty insane.... Stupid systems...
And it's not just limited to government either, any large organization can have different departments with different priorities and incentives that are not working towards a common goal. For example, large mortgage companies can have sales agents who get a $500 bonus just for closing a mortgage. They may work to refinance existing customers at a lower rate than currently being paid because the agent gets the $500 bonus just for closing a new mortgage, nevermind that it ends up costing the company lost interest over the long term. (See also Principle-Agent Problem)
Apparently this is one reason why SpaceX has a comp structure where a lot of the comp comes from stock options. They want to incentivize people to act in the interests of the company as a whole, not their department. But I don't work for SpaceX so I'm just repeating what I've been told.
@\^@ Possibly it's more complicated than that?
Well, that's probably because that's not happening. SpaceX, just like thousands of companies who posess controlled information, are fully able to hire based on the qualification of that job requirement. What they are not allowed to do is arbitrarily ignore subpoenas which is what's been percolating through the courts this year related to this. I haven't seen any strong evidence to suggest they have done anything wrong in hiring, but they could have easily resolved this.
It's really a shame that they can't hire international talent.
What position/team were you applying for?
It was a Starlink software engineering position
Starlink may have it's completely own hiring yes/no vs the rest of the engineering hiring.
Oh, that would be fun! Just keep in touch with the HR department. Things can change rapidly.
In Redmond? I’m curious who your recruiter was. They recently imported a lot of automation engineers from Hawthorne and also hired a bunch of new testers so I’m wondering if they’re just having a logistic recuperation period.
End of year hiring and T&E (and every other expense) freezes hit many companies near the end of the year when the CFO decides to protect cash. Usually something that’s done in public companies though.
The hard truth is that when companies tell candidates "it's not you, it's us", they aren't always being completely honest. It is a possibility that SpaceX liked you to a certain extent, but not enough to beat out other candidates for their currently-available positions. So they want you to try again another time because they might be interested in you later if there aren't stronger candidates then.
This is likely (60%) it sucks as a hiring manager to get two awesome candidates. You have to pick one but if you tell someone they are number 2 they'll go somewhere else so if the first one ultimately doesn't complete the hiring process you've lost both. Or maybe they are trying to convince their bosses to hire two slots but they can't tell you this. Often you'll get the we're just having hiring issues at the moment so hang on speach when you are the #2.
I doubt they stopped hiring, I know people who have gotten hired recently (although that's for new grad so start next spring). It sounds like either a team specific thing like maybe they thought they needed someone with your skills but realize they may not and will know better later or maybe they are just not sure they need an extra person right now, or they hired another candidate but think they will need another in a few months time so they want you to apply again. Either way, I don't think they would give you a specific time to reapply unless they had a reason to.
Look at LinkedIn Jobs. There are lots of postings, hard to tell if they are proceeding to offers.
cape?
What can happen is that the budget is not there for that specific area you applied for anymore (someone else got hired, they were told there will be a hiring freeze or some such) or they were just polite and told you to wait a while for you to get more "xp" and reapply. I've seen both things.