SpaceX reviews

-Cradle-to-grave lifecycle of space hardware measured in months, not years or decades. I saw my designs fly to the ISS 8 months after I started. -A culture that prioritizes functionality and capability over flight legacy/risk aversion. This in turn drives innovation, elegant design, clever solutions, and utilization of emerging technologies. Completely avoids the "Well, we know this decade-old technology worked before, so we'll just use it in perpetuity," mentality that makes all good engineers sad pandas. -Highly meritocratic structure. Promotions, bonuses, and raises are based entirely on performance. (The only thing seniority gets you is nicer parking.) -Free frozen yogurt and coffee. Frequent free gourmet food. -Stock options. -Flexible (albeit lengthy) hours. Work-from-home options. -Working with the most intelligent, dedicated and (increasingly) accomplished engineers and technicians in the field. It is an honor and a pleasure to work with and learn from my team. Good sense of humor all around, too.

Note: This is from an Engineer's perspective. SpaceX has been in a state of growth since I first started at the company, constantly increasing the scope of it's projects, it's capabilities, and it's vision. With that comes the amazing opportunities that only comes from a small/medium sized company! There aren't many companies where you can have something you designed or built in space within 1~2 years! If flying something you've worked on in space is a career goal of yours, I can't think of a better place to be. Another side effect of a rapidly growing company is the opoprtunities for increased responsibility. SpaceX employees often find themselves responsible for very important elements very quickly. Responsibility it placed upon people based more on merit than tenure, which allows for career growth not possible with larger aerospace companes. In my experience, SpaceX does a good job of rewarding efforts and successes with perks and bonuses. While compensations may be below aerospace industry standards initially, SpaceX (in my opinion) does a better job of rewarding performance. At the end of the day, there isn't any thing quite like watching a rocket take off and a spacecraft at the space stations, and SpaceX captures that excitement and passion of that dream!