The Application Process

I applied for the Software Engineering Co-op position at Tesla through their careers portal. Like many others, I had received several rejection emails from Tesla in the past, so I wasn’t expecting much this time either.

Then, out of the blue, I received an email from a recruiter. It was completely unexpected, but I immediately noticed that the job description aligned well with my previous experience, particularly my work with .NET. I suspected that this was a key factor in getting shortlisted.

Initial Communication and Scheduling

The recruiter’s email contained a few standard questions regarding my availability for interviews, work authorization, and background. All of this was handled over email. I promptly responded, and we scheduled the interview for the following week.

Interview Structure

The interview process consisted of two back-to-back rounds, each lasting 45 minutes:

Round 1: Technical Discussion and Coding Challenge

• The first round was conducted by a Staff Engineer.

• It started with introductions and a discussion about my previous work experience.

• The interviewer asked conceptual questions about Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), design patterns, and then dived deeper into my past projects and responsibilities.

• This initial discussion lasted about 20 minutes.

• Then came the coding challenge—a LeetCode medium-level Dynamic Programming (DP) problem.

• Since this was my first coding interview in a long time, I was a bit nervous. I managed to come up with the right algorithm but got stuck on an optimization bug, which caused me to exceed the given time.

• The interviewer appreciated my intuition and approach but might have expected a fully optimized solution.

Round 2: Technical Discussion, Coding, and System Design

• The transition to the second round was immediate. A Senior Engineer joined the same call while the first interviewer exited.

• This round followed a similar structure: introductions, a brief discussion about the role, and a deep dive into my technical skills and past experience.

• The interviewer then presented me with a LeetCode medium-level string manipulation problem.

• This problem was relatively easy, and I started with a brute-force approach before optimizing it efficiently.

• After that, I was asked two high-level system design questions based on technologies mentioned in my resume. I was able to answer them confidently.

The Outcome

I was optimistic after the interview, despite not having fully optimized my first-round coding solution. Two days later, however, I received a rejection email. Naturally, I felt disappointed, but I also saw this experience as a valuable learning opportunity.

Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned

1. Preparation matters – Even though I had the intuition for the DP problem, my lack of recent practice led to struggles in optimizing my solution under pressure.

2. Interviews test more than just coding – My past experience, system design skills, and problem-solving approach were well received.

3. Expect the unexpected – Despite feeling confident about my overall performance, the outcome was different than I had hoped. That’s just how the process works sometimes.

4. Keep improving – This experience helped me identify areas for improvement, and I’m now focusing on refining my problem-solving speed and practicing DP and optimization techniques more rigorously.

While it was disappointing not to receive an offer, I am grateful for the opportunity and will use this experience to come back stronger in my future interviews!