Rocket Lab Interview Questions
& Process

Started with a quick chat with the recruiter, then got a take-home challenge that I had 48 hours for. It involved making a control task in a language I picked, and then doing it again in C++. After that, there was a 1-hour technical interview with the team where we talked about the take-home and they asked some random technical questions. The last interview was with the director, who asked about my past work and how I handled tough, demanding situations.

So I had this interview for a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer role. It started with a quick 15-minute recruiter call asking basic stuff like why I want the job, my experience, and if I'd relocate. Then, a 45-minute call with the hiring manager where we talked about my detailed experiences and some technical questions; he seemed good and answered my questions. The next part was a technical task where I had 7 days to design a thrust actuator, including CAD, picking parts, materials, and giving recommendations. This was a massive ask considering I have a full-time job, and I spent tons of time on it, researching, designing, and justifying everything. I had to create a slide deck with all this plus CAD and calculations. After submitting, I waited, followed up twice with the recruiter over 3 weeks with no reply. Finally, I got a generic AI-written rejection email. It said my design was good for a first iteration but needed more development for production, specifically on assembly and manufacturing ease. I was confused because the task said 'concept,' and they wanted it production-ready in a week while I work full-time, for free? They even suggested I keep developing the concept. I emailed again asking for more feedback, but got no clear answer on whether the application was totally done. Not a great experience, honestly, and it made me question how this company operates.

I applied online on Rocket Lab's website. About 2.5 weeks later, I had a standard initial recruiter phone screen. A week after that, I had a virtual interview with the hiring manager, which included a mix of technical and STAR questions. A week after the hiring manager call, I received a take-home technical assessment. I was given 2-3 days to complete a task that's representative of standard flight software work. It's recommended to thoroughly document your design decisions and assumptions. A week after submitting the assessment, I had an on-site interview which was both a technical and personality fit panel screening with other flight software personnel.

This was the most pointless interview I ever had. The role was that of a cloud engineer, but their network engineer, software "security" engineer and others were interested in asking questions about their own roles and looking for answers they found online. It devolved into a trivia round that was irrelevant to the job description, despite initial excitement for the on-site. Two panelists joined remotely, while the company wanted me to come on-site daily, which speaks volumes about having different standards. The Denver location isn't really Rocket Lab, but a subsidiary called ASI with a separate budget, so don't expect a great work culture there. It seemed like the interview was predetermined and they framed pointless questions to eliminate candidates. Personal questions were asked about past experience in different industries and my immigration journey and timeline. They also have a "pickleball" court in the loading area, which could be an OSHA violation with folks playing next to parked forklifts.