What is the hiring process like at Tesla?

The Technology - this job will keep you sharp. You must be on your A-game when working with a product that is leading the way in a tech savvy environment. The product is stellar, the work environment changes keeps you on your feet, the job is so past paced and changes so often that you are constantly learning and figuring out new issues and always adapting to new concepts and environments. The People - As customer service representatives, you definitely deal with the occasional sh*thead but the majority of the customers are really cool. They all have different backgrounds and come from a very different past. Tons of tech industry guys, car dorks, and all around eco-friendly people looking to make the world a better place. The mission statement gives your arm fuzzies when you think about it and the product breeds motivated individuals to support the brand and the mission. You will also find yourself matched side by side in the trenches with amazing peers who lift you up and will teach you amazing things and encourage you when you are down. Cannot say the same about management.

There are too many cons to list. Let's start with main ones. You are just a number. The company grew too fast and if you don't get the special red carpet treatment because you know someone who knows someone, you will just get used, burned out, and never get recognized for what you have put in. I personally walked away but always walked away in 2022 when I was still making the same measly hourly wage they initially hired me in 2020 after doing everything the company asked for in return. I shifted my role to a trainer position, switched to a service center that was falling apart to keep it together, and everything you could ever ask for in an employee, I did it. I was promised and alluded a promotion but never got it until I threatened to walk out one day. That was the only time in my 3.5 year tenure I was promoted. Sad right? The lay off are crushing here and real. If you ever work for them, you realize that they like to "change" things up every so often. That could mean your hours change or your work environment changes. Or they fire the last 5 people they hired in your department or they fire the most tenured employee that works the hardest because they get paid more than everyone else. It's a sad system in place run by a poorly hand plucked management and stems from an immature company with too much growth and not being able to handle it. They promote the wrong people, lay off the wrong people, and hire the wrong people leaving you with a disorganized chaos to constantly clean up since service is the step child of the company that "shouldn't" technically exist. If the entire management team were more like the 4 managers I truly enjoyed my time with and supported 100% I would still be with the company. Two were fired and two moved on to a different part of the company. As service advisors, you are essentially just trying to keep the stock holders happy and fix the broken problems the engineering and factory created. Toms of manufacturing defects, fitment issues, internal issues caused by trying to fix something else. If the root of the issues were fixed from the top down starting with strict engineering and quality control, 50% of the headaches would go away. Instead service is dealing with either delaying the concern and putting bandaids on real issues that Tesla has no answer to fix. There is a certain level of actually fixing things and being the punching bag of customers who are absolutely upset they are not treated like their previous Mercedes service center but most of the time, we are informing the customers a future fix is coming or this is a known issue and our engineers are working on it. It gets old after a while and it seems to be the common trend with an immature company that cannot handle their growth properly. Long hours, zero recognition. With the revolving co-workers and managers, you truly are not valued as am employee. For the richest company in the world, we have the MOST sad company events and work gatherings. Most of them are run by employees on their personal time and budget. Work more for less. Get more stuff done with less. And if someone doesn't do it, pick up the slack for them because eventually it will come back to you. You also wonder how certain managers and co-workers got hired. It's astonishing how desperate the service department has gotten. If you pay more and are selective with your hiring process, maybe you can find the right people? The hourly thing for technicians can get old because they honestly have no incentive to work harder and faster unless internally motivated with $$$ like most automotive environments. Management. Internal greed and toxic culture. Especially at a mecca center like Tyson. This place breeds toxicity and I know there are are less intense and chill service centers out there. Over time that toxicity will bleed through.

recruitment process was fast and recruiter was very responsive

have not yet started, so don't know yet

If you are interested in working for Tesla I would recommend it as stepping stone. Tesla breads a very toxic work environment and it starts with the leadership. When I was a recruiter on the skilled trades team in Austin, the senior manager created a hostile work environment between the hiring managers and recruiters. At a career fair early on, I saw a hiring manager actually yell at my colleague in front of everyone, including the candidates. I thought it might be a one-off incident, but it turned out to be part of a larger issue. There were several occasions where I ran into the recruiting interns crying in the bathroom. We were even blocked from hiring interns from several universities. She rarely had her team’s back and struggled to set up a steady process. Every week the hiring process seemed to change, often with little explanation. When we’d ask for clarity, she’d tell us her manager was behind the changes and warn us not to reach out to him. We relied on an Excel spreadsheet to track our progress and metrics, but it became apparent that she wasn’t comfortable interpreting the data accurately. As a result, her instructions were all over the place—one week, she’d tell us we had to hire 100 people, only to inform us the following week that we were now overstaffed. If we asked for additional clarification, she’d simply refer us to one of her team leads, which unfortunately didn’t help much, as they were often just as uncertain. It felt like “the blind leading the blind,” and it made it challenging to feel confident in our roles or even achieve our goals as a team. Overall, the lack of consistent direction, support, and professionalism created an environment that was not only challenging to navigate but also one that impacted our effectiveness and morale.

Pros: • Tesla’s name carries weight and can open doors for future opportunities. • Exposure to high-volume recruiting processes in a fast-paced environment. Cons: • The skilled trades recruiting team was plagued by a deeply toxic culture, driven largely by the senior manager. • Leadership regularly created conflict between recruiters and hiring managers rather than encouraging collaboration. • During one of my first career fairs, I witnessed a hiring manager publicly yelling at a recruiter—an incident I initially thought was isolated but later realized was the norm. • Interns were regularly overwhelmed and demoralized; it was not uncommon to find them crying in the bathroom. • The manager failed to provide clear direction or protect her team—hiring processes changed frequently with little context, and questions were met with deflection or vague answers. • The result was a chaotic, high-pressure environment where people were set up to fail and morale steadily eroded.

Working at Tesla proves you are highly resilient and able to handle long working hours. The company has extremely strict recruitment criteria, so many candidates fail to get hired after interviews. A work experience at Tesla is a real highlight on your resume. What’s more, the new energy industry enjoys promising prospects.

Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai enjoys a positive public image and marketing reputation, yet its internal management is far from satisfactory. Excessively long and frequent meetings Meetings take up a great deal of working time. Weekly team meetings on Mondays last for around three hours, while product and project progress meetings are held on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Many attendees deliver lengthy reports of 30 minutes or more. These meetings often run through lunch breaks, and afternoon progress sessions usually drag on for at least two and a half hours, forcing employees to work overtime regularly. Extreme working hours and frequent business trips Staff in Supply Chain, R&D and Procurement are required to travel constantly. Many have to leave for airports or railway stations as early as 6 a.m. Even for trips to nearby cities like Suzhou and Changshu, most make round trips on the same day, often getting home as late as 8 p.m. The workplace is highly stressful. Managers focus solely on supervision instead of helping engineers solve practical problems. The top-down management style creates a lack of trust between leaders and team members. Most employees are out on business trips four days a week, leaving little time for family life. Repetitive reporting and heavy documentation workload The same issues need to be reported repeatedly to quality teams, production departments and different supervisors on various occasions. Each department has its own standards for reports, requiring constant revisions and updates. Employees spend days travelling, then attend meetings and submit reports after work. Mandatory evening training sessions also take up personal time, making overtime for paperwork a daily routine. Limited benefits and no year-end bonuses for all staff The compensation package only includes 12-month base salary and stock options, with no additional perks or holiday gifts. No employees in the company receive year-end bonuses, and the management has never provided any explanation for this. Work culture values compliance over independent thinking Currying favor with supervisors matters more than actual job performance. Leaders prefer employees who report frequently and follow orders unconditionally, rather than those who are innovative and think independently. Employees are expected only to execute tasks instead of offering ideas. High turnover and strict speech control The company has a high employee turnover rate. Strict rules are imposed on external remarks: only two designated staff members are allowed to speak to the media. All other employees may only share official content, and any personal opinions are prohibited, with potential legal consequences for violations. Undisclosed non-compete agreements and bureaucratic management New hires are required to sign the non-compete agreement together with the employment contract upon onboarding, and this requirement is never disclosed during recruitment. The company enforces the non-compete restrictions on many regular engineers after they resign, which prevents them from taking up new job offers. Job seekers should stay alert. The advertised flat management structure does not exist. The workplace is highly bureaucratic with rigid hierarchies. Employees are forbidden to report problems to senior leaders across levels, and some have spoken out online about unfair treatment at work. 24/7 on-call requirement Messages about work progress are sent around the clock via Teams and WeChat. Employees are expected to reply instantly. Failure to respond during off-hours or on weekends will be regarded as insubordination, leading to unfair treatment or retaliation. All the above are true experiences. I choose to remain anonymous to avoid repercussions.

Interview process is very unprofessional.

Not stable for engineering Manager.

Positive Culture Amazing Benefits High Pay Interesting Projects Easy to connect with other people

Hard to get in Interview process can be super technical

If you are interested in working for Tesla I would recommend it as stepping stone. Tesla breads a very toxic work environment and it starts with the leadership. When I was a recruiter on the skilled trades team in Austin, the senior manager created a hostile work environment between the hiring managers and recruiters. At a career fair early on, I saw a hiring manager actually yell at my colleague in front of everyone, including the candidates. I thought it might be a one-off incident, but it turned out to be part of a larger issue. There were several occasions where I ran into the recruiting interns crying in the bathroom. We were even blocked from hiring interns from several universities. She rarely had her team’s back and struggled to set up a steady process. Every week the hiring process seemed to change, often with little explanation. When we’d ask for clarity, she’d tell us her manager was behind the changes and warn us not to reach out to him. We relied on an Excel spreadsheet to track our progress and metrics, but it became apparent that she wasn’t comfortable interpreting the data accurately. As a result, her instructions were all over the place—one week, she’d tell us we had to hire 100 people, only to inform us the following week that we were now overstaffed. If we asked for additional clarification, she’d simply refer us to one of her team leads, which unfortunately didn’t help much, as they were often just as uncertain. It felt like “the blind leading the blind,” and it made it challenging to feel confident in our roles or even achieve our goals as a team. Overall, the lack of consistent direction, support, and professionalism created an environment that was not only challenging to navigate but also one that impacted our effectiveness and morale.

Pros: • Tesla’s name carries weight and can open doors for future opportunities. • Exposure to high-volume recruiting processes in a fast-paced environment. Cons: • The skilled trades recruiting team was plagued by a deeply toxic culture, driven largely by the senior manager. • Leadership regularly created conflict between recruiters and hiring managers rather than encouraging collaboration. • During one of my first career fairs, I witnessed a hiring manager publicly yelling at a recruiter—an incident I initially thought was isolated but later realized was the norm. • Interns were regularly overwhelmed and demoralized; it was not uncommon to find them crying in the bathroom. • The manager failed to provide clear direction or protect her team—hiring processes changed frequently with little context, and questions were met with deflection or vague answers. • The result was a chaotic, high-pressure environment where people were set up to fail and morale steadily eroded.

Innovative Environment: Tesla is undeniably at the forefront of technological innovation, offering a chance to be involved in cutting-edge projects.

My experience at Tesla was disheartening. While the company touts itself as innovative, my time as a new hire revealed a concerning trend: management appears to prioritize short-term gains by leveraging the expertise of new employees without offering job security or long-term growth opportunities. I was quickly brought on board, and my existing knowledge was utilized, but I was let go shortly thereafter. The onboarding process was disorganized, and I didn't feel adequately supported. This experience suggests a lack of commitment to employee development and raises questions about how Tesla values its new talent.

good recruitment process, good team vibe

less internship opportunity, no others

Innovative & Mission-Driven Environment – Tesla is at the forefront of technology and sustainability, making it an inspiring place to work. Fast-Paced & Dynamic – No two days are the same, and you’ll be challenged to think outside the box in hiring top talent. Strong Employer Brand – Recruiting for Tesla means working with a brand that attracts top candidates, making sourcing easier. Passionate Team – Colleagues are driven, smart, and motivated by Tesla’s mission.

High Workload & Pressure – The pace is relentless, and recruiters often juggle multiple high-priority roles with aggressive hiring targets Process Changes Frequently – Tesla’s fast-moving nature means processes and priorities shift often, requiring adaptability Intense Leadership Expectations – Leadership pushes for results, which can be rewarding but also stressful.