Tesla

Intern

January - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

plenty of projects to do at Tesla and I was given a lot of responsibility (perhaps too much) lots to do for fun in and around the Bay Area, loads of other interns around

What I wish was different

location in South Bay is inconvenient my team had poor mentorship/feedback

Advice

important to hit the ground running independence in finding projects is preferred and often necessary

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Mechanical Engineering Intern

May - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Lots of responsibility and freedom given to interns

What I wish was different

A little more structure for internship programs.

Advice

Keep your head down and be ready for failure. You'll work on a lot of projects for hours and they might end up getting scrapped. However, the projects you do work on will be crucial to the company and you'll feel accomplished in the end.

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Production associate

May 2018 • Virginia City, NV

What I liked

I like the hours, working nights I was able to continue going to school. I also like all the opportunities they have to grow my career.

What I wish was different

N/A

Advice

It’s tough, but you should keep on pushing. There’s so much more to learn so keep an open mind, listen to what everyone has to say.

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Design Engineer Intern

May - August 2018 • Palo Alto, CA

What I liked

What I wish was different

Advice

Network and work your connections at events and LinkedIn. Hard work pays off.

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Cell Engineering Intern

May - August 2018 • Palo Alto, CA

What I liked

The fast-paced atmosphere and breadth of engineering challenges I worked with.

What I wish was different

I wish there was a more rigid organizational structure because I wasted a lot of time looking for the right people.

Advice

Be flexible.

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People Analytics Intern

May - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Hands off management style, frequent intern speaker series, well paid for my time

What I wish was different

I wish my group had been more technical and that I'd had the opportunity to work on a more statistics/math heavy project that would've forced me to broaden my skillset

Advice

Networking is everything! I never would've gotten into Tesla had it not been for a 3rd level connection (I connected to a Tesla employee who who graduated from the same program as someone my dad used to work with)

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Production associate

June - August 2018 • Sparks, NV

What I liked

The position I had was being part of a team, if you know how to embrace being a team member and building relationships it can be an enjoyable experience.

What I wish was different

The pay was good, but management could be better at communication and decision making. Was doing 60 hour weeks because of mandatory overtime with no knowledge of when it would be done.

Advice

Talk to people. Other employees, your supervisors, everybody has a story and you can gain a lot of information as well as personal relationships.

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Manufacturing Engineering Intern

May - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

It was very fast paced, and interns can work on highly impactful projects.

What I wish was different

I wish my supervisor had more time to coach me, but he was way too busy with the Model 3 production target.

Advice

At Tesla, you really need to be self-starters, because other engineers are way too busy with their own work. They will only provide you with resources when you ask for them.

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Vehicle Test Intern

May - August 2017 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Open ended, relaxed atmosphere, all around well-paid and convenient location

What I wish was different

More structure, more variety of work

Advice

Always be working

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Project Management Intern

June - September 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

I really enjoyed the team environment and getting the chance to get exposed to multiple projects across the facility.

What I wish was different

Nothing, it was a overall awesome experience.

Advice

Apply early and if you can take a quarter off do it!

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Delivery experience specialist

June - November 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

The mission of the company is inline with my values.

What I wish was different

I wish that the company had been more organized.

Advice

Be more considerate of employees career desiress.

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Communications Intern

May - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Tesla is such an amazing company. All of the employees that I met there are very dedicated to their job and seem to have tons of experience. I learned from them a ton and respect everyone there immensely. I really enjoyed the experience I got whether it was summarizing Tesla news coverage, researching for media influencers on YouTube or pitching to magazines about the Solar Roof. I also got to drive a Tesla Model 3 Performance! Highlight of the summer!!

What I wish was different

NOTHING! Even though a little crazy at times, this internship was fantastic. I learned so much!

Advice

The ability to think on your feet is everything! Always be offering to help whenever you can, because it will be appreciated if not rewarded.

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Glass Coatings & Film Development Intern

June - September 2018 • Hawthorne, CA

What I liked

Working with some of the smartest people.

What I wish was different

Longer time to work on projects. Less drama at the CEO level.

Advice

Remember that there are many companies that want Tesla to fail, and to not let the media reports make you question the mission or the future of the company.

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Software Engineering Intern

July - September 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

A lot of responsibility was given and learned a lot.

What I wish was different

A more diverse team and I wish the culture was more inclusive of diverse backgrounds.

Advice

Take ownership of your projects/work.

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Electrical engineering intern - Manufacturing

May - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Great real world experience with like minded individuals.

What I wish was different

Advice

It would be nice to have more real world application brought into the classroom. I am finding out that many in the workplace say that a majority of major curriculum does not transfer into the workplace.

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Material Planning Intern

May - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

I loved the hands on experience I received and the responsibilities that were handed to me. I felt like a member of the company rather than just an intern.

What I wish was different

I wish I had a more structured project at the beginning of my program.

Advice

Take initiative. Sometimes it feels like you've run out of things to do. Making lists of your responsibilities helps remind you of tasks you might have neglected.

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Lean Intern

June - December 2016 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Variety of problems and situations to address greatly expanded skill set and thinking

What I wish was different

Less fire fighting

Advice

Be willing to put your projects aside to fire fight

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Electrical Engineer

August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Accelerate the transition of sustainable transportation.

What I wish was different

That I worked harder I while I was at school

Advice

Work hard and you will get your positivity point

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Sales Consultant

May 2017 - August 2018 • Minneapolis, MN

What I liked

At Tesla every morning we had a team huddle and being able to connect with management and the team and keep everyone accountable helped to increase productivity. A lot of autonomy within the company and not just with the self driving cars. We had different tasks and knew how to do all of the jobs within our branch. This showed a since of teamwork and that everyone was equal. Driving the luxury cars to work in the morning was a huge plus. Learning about and understanding how powerful electric vehicles are really was a new and exciting experience.

What I wish was different

I found that everyone had their own way of doing things within the company which entailed autonomy but everyone also had their opinions on how this could be done. This wasn't a negative it showed me how to listen and adapt to hybrid style to increase my efficiency.

Advice

Get an internship that you think you are going to be interested in and do your research. If you are able to do some extensive research you will know what you are getting yourself into. Also, I found that the type of internship you do. You will increase the likelihood of getting that said career after college. During a job interview this is extremely helpful for you to expand on your knowledge, and where you want to go within their company.

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Automation

May - August 2018 • Fremont, CA

What I liked

Tesla gave me a lot of accountability and the freedom to pursue what is most interesting to me. You would not imagine it. I could easily ask my manager to take tours around different Tesla facilities, hop over to other teams to see what they do and spend a day with them, take a day off from my normal job to work on the assembly line, as long as I got my job done, of course. However, I also set my own timelines for projects, project manage my own tasks, and sat in a lot of very important meetings. I was only about 4-5 levels from Elon Musk in the company directory , so in general the company is very flat! Elon and JB's office is also open, and you can just peek over your shoulder and see JB coding away everyday in Palo Alto, and Elon walking around his favorite area overlooking the Fremont factory. You are allowed and encouraged to email anyone above you if you want to learn more or need to get something done. Everyone on every team responds instantly. It's the people who CAN'T get stuff done that stand out among the crowd because everybody works extremely hard. Despite how hard people work, the social life was amazing. My team came in before I woke up on my Birthday, wrapped my desk and gave me a ton of cupcakes and presents. One of them was also a pilot and flew me to Napa valley for a wine tasting tour. We would have a full team outing for every occasion. The people became what I remember most from this summer.

What I wish was different

I was not treated like an intern, instead, a full time employee, so I was mostly on my own in terms of code review and mentorship. I was never told what to do, and had to figure out my own plans and projects based on the team's roadmap. I had to frequently ask for mentorship or help from full time employees and pester them to review my code. In addition, since priorities change so often (my summer was the summer Tesla tried to hit 5,000 cars a week), I was pulled into different tasks very often and had to keep myself up to date about what was going on. There were also a lot of people leaving due to the huge layoff. It was very eye opening to see a company going through a huge change, especially when you are in the middle of it. I cried in the middle of a meeting when my manager told me he was leaving during the middle of my internship. Nothing really could have been done about this, but I just wished I was more prepared for the realities that came with a fast-moving company.

Advice

Make the most out of your experience. Don't just sit down at your desk and do work. Go out and talk to other people, learn what they do in the company, and spend some time working with them to learn about their setbacks and successes. I am most likely returning to a team who let me sit in one of their meetings and showed me around Tesla HQ for ONE DAY, and learned my most valuable lessons from the production associates working on the assembly line. I also got Tesla to sponsor a 15K senior design project this year!

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