Tesla Motors Reviews

I worked at Tesla Motors full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – There are smart people to work with, who are eager to share their knowledge.
Culture of open communcication.
Meritocracy - the best and brightest do get recognized.
The long term vision has an inspiring purpose.
You are routinely challenged to do things nobody has done before.

Cons – Organizational structure is hard to decipher sometimes.
The daily challenges make it hard to see the big picture.
The annual review system is ineffective.

Advice to Senior Management – Separate reviews into two parts - raises and stock option grants based on what one has done well, and forward-looking feedback/improvements and goals.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Tesla Motors as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Fast Paced Environment, Super smart co-workers, Great CEO

Cons – Unstructured, Career Opportunities, Not yet established

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Tesla Motors part-time

Pros – Flexible, Nice, great experience, teaches you so much

Cons – Demand a lot out of you

I worked at Tesla Motors as an intern for less than a year

Pros – At Tesla, I always felt like part of something big. The projects I worked on were always important even though I was only an intern.

Cons – Tesla is not a slow moving company. If you are someone who likes to have a laid back job, Tesla is not the company for you.

Advice to Senior Management – Give the employees less overtime and they might want to stick around longer.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Tesla Motors as an intern

Pros – Tesla is a great place to learn about manufacturing. Tesla does most of their manufacturing in Fremont so as an intern you really get to watch the cars be built. There are a lot of opportunities for interns to contribute and make a big difference.

Cons – As an intern your are assigned to an intern mentor who is a young engineer on your team. The quality of the internship depends a lot on who your mentor is.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Tesla Motors full-time for less than a year

Pros – - Celebrity-status
- Most of the people are intelligent and friendly
- Silicon Valley startup-ish environment
- Stock options (for some positions only)

Cons – - Insanely long hours and work demands. Insane.
- Insanely long hours and work demands. Seriously, insane.
- Low pay
- Little to no chance to move up (or around) from low-tier positions
- "Blue collar" environment kills most of the allure of working for this SV tech "startup"
- Stock option awards are not as common as they were in the earlier days of the company
- Employees are treated as assets that are easily replaceable

Advice to Senior Management – Get rid of the old-school "blue collar" mentality in favor of innovation, experimentation, entrepreneurship. Treat your employees better.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Tesla Motors full-time for more than a year

Pros – The product is cutting edge.

Cons – The manufacturing management treats its line workers (they are the back bone of the company) like a modern day sweat shop. Management by fear. People are overworked, over stressed, and under appreciated. This job Will upset your balance between work and personal life.

Advice to Senior Management – Have executive management spend the day at each manufacturing process (floor level) to really see what is going on.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Tesla Motors full-time for more than a year

Pros – Startups are awalys great places to work, not to mention the thrill of changes every day. You get to learn something new on a daily basis.

Cons – However, you tend to get a feeling that people don't have a clue where the company is going. All we saw is irrational decisions and roll-the-dice style of strategies. Higher echelons like making calls so much so that they think people will consider them dumb if they don't.

Advice to Senior Management – Get real and build a better company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Tesla Motors full-time for more than a year

Pros – It is one man company

Cons – very rational decision by the top management

Advice to Senior Management – Take appropriate steps on long term basis

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Tesla Motors full-time for less than a year

Pros – Fast paced, growing, and fascinating place to learn and grow within your role and the company. No day is the same as the company continues to grow.

Cons – Constant process clashes between start-up mentality and corporate mentality clamps. Company continues to grow, but is experiencing growing pains while implementing new processes.

Advice to Senior Management – Create better training programs for new hires as trial by fire may cause the company to lose some great employees that may sink/not swim.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company