I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Tesla (Fremont, CA) in Dec 2015
Interview
One of several staffing agencies will post an ad. My staffing agency interviewed me, because of my lack of production experience he said I only had a 40% chance. But hey this is Tesla! I gotta try.
At the Tesla interview we are given a simple assembly test. There are three bolts, 3 red painted nuts, three unpainted nuts, and 6 washers. There is also a ruler. You wear gloves and goggles just to see if you have any issues with safety gear.
Putting them together in the right sequence and the spacing is key. I had to space them 10mm (1 cm) apart and 15mm (1 1/2 cm) apart. The tiny lines on the ruler are millimeters.
Follow verbal and written instructions exactly.
The only difficult thing are your own nerves. I messed up and had to redo something. I even dropped a nut on the floor. I still passed. I think they just took the top half of the group that finished correctly first. There were 15 of us and 7 of us passed.
Then came the interview, which I bombed. I was venous and the recruiter only saw the 9 years on recent caregiving experience on my resume. It didn't matter that I once built a house, or that I regularly make things using tools all the time in my normal life.
Felt like a bad date. I am working at a machine shop now, I may try again someday with this new experience. After all this is Tesla, they are a company I truly believe in and I won't let one lame interviewer change that opinion.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give an example of a conflict you had with a co-worker and how did you resolve it.