Pros
Considered to be an elite company to work for. Stock options. Working everyday at a rocket factory. Looks good on a resume.
Cons
Stock options only matter if you can stick around long enough to vest. Aside from Elon, extremely poor management. 'Stuff' rolls down hill, in every group. There is a strange mentality that celebrates being the last person in the office - like whoever leaves last somehow wins... Employees are given very few tools to do job they are tasked to complete. Extremely high turnover before the initial 12 month vesting period - something like 75% of people who get fired get let go prior to vesting. Very little opportunity to advance your skill set; they hire people who are experts in a particular field, and expect them to work 80 hours a week stagnating in that skill set. VP's are almost exclusively hired into the company, not promoted from within. Did I mention extremely high turnover / burnout? Expect to be 'managed' toward your exit. If a superior becomes displeased with you for performance or personal reasons, you will be placed on a 'Performance Improvement Plan' and given a job outside your core competencies, then given 30 days to reach unreachable goals and let go. I was really pumped during the recruiting process, and the first few months in the job were thrilling. But, SpaceX is a grind and it is a really tough place to be successful. There are a lot of great companies out there, nearly all of them take better care of their people. Oh ya, Hawthorne sucks. South Central Los Angeles is a great place to be if you want to get car jacked.
