What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Tesla”? I bet it includes sophisticated yet sustainable systems, electric cars, solar panels, and Elon Musk. You're not wrong, but that's not all this company offers. Instead, Tesla also provides a unique apprenticeship program for the underdogs. Tesla wants more people to have access to artificial intelligence so they can redefine their reality. So it launched an immersive training program, Tesla START, to provide underserved individuals with the technical skills they need to launch and grow their careers in Tesla Inc.
If you want to launch a career in manufacturing engineering, electric vehicle (EV) & collision service, or automotive engineering, this apprenticeship program is for you. Discover all you need to know to land an elite apprenticeship in Tesla in this curated guide. Together, we'll explore subtopics such as Tesla’s apprenticeship track, START apprenticeship salary, and benefits, START apprenticeship conversion rate, START hiring process and interview preparation, and Tesla's START reviews from former apprentices.
Tesla Inc. is an AI-powered company that focuses on helping humanity embrace sustainable energy to combat climate issues and protect the environment. Tesla has revolutionized manufacturing, construction, and automotive engineering by launching sustainable systems such as electric vehicles, solar panels, solar roofs, and clean energy batteries. Tesla is a leader in the electric vehicle industry. However, according to S&P Global Mobility, the company's industry power has declined. Tesla’s market share fell from 77.8% in November 2021 to 57.1% in November 2022.
In 2022, the company revealed that its global employee count was 127,855, a 29,000 year-on-year increase. In its 2020 DEI report, Tesla announced that 21 % of its global workforce are females and 79% are males, and 60% of its employees are from underrepresented communities, comprising 21 Asians, 10% Black, and 22% Hispanics. Tesla’s corporate headquarters is in Austin, Texas. Its engineering headquarters is in Palo Alto, California. In addition, Tesla has a factory in Fermont, California.
It also owns gigafactories and delivery warehouses in Nevada, New York, Shanghai, Berlin-Brandenburg, Amsterdam, Tilburg, Prum, North Sydney, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei City. In its 2022 annual report, Tesla revealed it produced 1,369,611 consumer vehicles in 2022 and supplied 1,313,815. In addition, the company deployed 6.5 GWh of energy storage products and 348 megawatts of solar energy systems. Tesla generated $81.46 billion in revenue, a $27.64 billion increase from 2021.
Tesla was founded 20 years ago in San Carlos, California. Today, it's one of the State's most prominent manufacturing employers and the world's leading electric vehicle manufacturer. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning incorporated the company in July 2003. These Silicon Valley engineers named the company “Tesla Motors” after the famous Physicist, “Nikola Tesla.” The founders wanted to create electric cars without compromising speed or comfort. In 2004, Elon Musk invested $6.5 million in the company and became the chairman of its board of directors. JB Straubel assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer.
Later, Elon Musk, Ian Wright, Martin Eberhard, JB Straubel, and Marc Tarpenning became Tesla's legal founders. With Elon’s help, the company raised $13 million in 2006, led by Valor Equity Partners. Within a few months, he co-led another funding round alongside Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Jeff Skoll. Then, in July 2006, the company revealed its prototype vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, which used a lithium-ion battery and had a driving range of 250 miles. Then, in August 2006, Elon Musk released “The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (Just Between You and Me),” revealing the company's long-term goal.
Martin Eberhard left Tesla in January 2008, and by February, the company delivered the first Tesla Roadster to Elon Musk. Following a successful trip, mass production kicked off in March, and opened its first factory in Fremont, California. By October, during the global financial crisis, Elon Musk became CEO and Product Architect. He immediately laid off 24% of its workforce. Martin Eberhard sued the company in 2009, which claimed he was forced out of the company. Between 2011 and 2022, Tesla released several car models and diversified into energy generation and storage. It changed its name to Tesla Inc In 2017 and moved its headquarters to Texas in 2021.
Tesla announced the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) on June 27, 2010. The company revealed it would offer 13,300,000 shares of its common stock for $17 per share. On the 29th of June, 2010, the company opened at $19 under the ticker “TSLA” on the New York Stock Exchange. Tesla's share price closed at $23.89, allotting the company a market capitalization of $2.2 billion at the end of its first trading day. Tesla has raised $20.2 billion in 37 funding rounds. It's most recent funding, $20 million, was on the 30th of June 2022, led by Soros Fund Management. Tesla has acquired nine companies since its inception. The most recent purchase includes Springpower and ATW Automation.
In February 2022, Tesla revealed that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) intended to file a lawsuit against the company following a three-year investigation. In February 2023, Tesla refuted claims that the company terminated employees in response to a new union campaign. Instead, the company revealed that the 27 (4%) employees on the Autopilot labeling team in Buffalo exited because of their performance on the performance review cycle for the second half of 2022.
Between 2018 and 2023, Tesla has been recognized by top brands like LinkedIn, Forbes, Universum, Fortune, Fast Company, and Boston Consulting Group for being innovative, socially conscious, and one of the best employers within and outside the United States.
Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible.
As a socially conscious company, Tesla’s business model is built on sustainability and continuous mobility. The company generates revenue from two primary sources: Automotive and Energy Generation & Storage. In addition, Tesla manufactures and sells four high-end consumer vehicles–The Model 3, Y, X, and S. It also recently launched the company's first commercial electric vehicle, “Tesla Semi.”
Tesla, Inc. plans to introduce Cybertruck and a new Tesla Roadster. The company produces and sells Powerwall home batteries, Powerwall commercial-scale batteries, and Megapack as its energy storage products. Tesla's solar energy offerings include solar panels and roofs. In addition, Tesla's online shop sells original merch, solar chargers, and car accessories.
According to Stackshare, Tesla has nine technologies in its tech stack. The company's application and data tools include PHP and Underscore. Its utilities include Google Analytics and Shopify. Tesla's DevOps is Bitbucket. Its business tools include Salesforce Sales Cloud, Drupal, Marketo, and Balsamiq. In addition, Tesla expects its software engineers to have expertise in using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Angular, Vue, Nextjs, Remix, Vite, and GoLang.
As an Artificial Intelligence company, Tesla uses its internal technologies. They include Tesla Bot, FSD Chip Hardware, Dojo Chip, Dojo Systems, Neural Networks, and autonomy algorithms,
Tesla's apprenticeship program is offered through Tesla START. The Tesla START, launched in 2018, is the company's workforce training program that prepares individuals in the United States for an engineering career at Tesla. The Tesla START features classroom learning, lab work, and self-study experience, allowing the participants to earn in-demand technical skills, soft skills and certifications. In addition, with the help of 13 colleges nationwide, Tesla START offers curriculums for Automotive, Collision, and Manufacturing roles.
Tesla’s START spans four months (16 weeks), during which the apprentices are assigned to teams and group projects to tackle. Those recruited into the CNC machine learning program will spend at least 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and demonstrate their progress over four years.
As an apprentice, you'll learn about Tesla’s products, participate in virtual lectures, complete weekly curriculum tasks in a 15:1 class setting, receive mentorship and feedback from your instructor, participate in soft skills-building sessions, complete a written general exam, and provide service center support. The apprenticeship comprises an eight-hour workday and a 40-hour workweek. All apprentices must have a 95-100% attendance record.
Apprentices who undergo this program earn a Red Seal Designation and become licensed Service technicians at Tesla. You'll explore Tesla’s products and production process as a service technician apprentice. In addition, you'll discover Tesla's safety protocols and build good maintenance skills. Besides passing the Red Seal automotive exam, you must be able to handle a complex workload and meet your deadlines.
This academic and on-the-job training program is for individuals who want to learn to control machining tools using programmed software automatically. As an apprentice, you'll take Tesla-sponsored courses at a local community college while receiving on-the-job training. Your daily tasks may include manual and CNC machining on mills, lathes, drill presses, surface grinders, saws, and sanders.
You'll collaborate with others to produce components and assemblies, repair equipment, and maintain a safe working environment. Of course, you'll need strong math skills, writing skills, communication skills, and mechanical aptitude to excel in this role.
Over 200 Tesla START apprentices graduated from the 16-week program in 2022; this year, 2023, a hundred more will graduate from their winter classes. Tesla plans to help these apprentices transition to full-time roles at the end of their apprenticeship. So far, it has helped hundreds of apprentices convert to full-time positions, although the company is yet to provide actual data.
According to Glassdoor, Tesla apprentices earn on an hourly basis. So, as a prospective Tesla apprentice, you should expect to earn an average of $27 per hour. This amount includes a $23 base pay and $4 as a Tesla stock bonus.
Individuals who attend Tesla START can look forward to Aetna PPO and HSA plans, family-building programs, dental and vision plans, company-covered HSA contributions when enrolled in the high-deductible medical plan with HSA, healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSA), LGBTQ+ care concierge services, 401k plan, employee stock purchase plan, company-paid basic life, AD&D, short-term disability insurance, employee assistance program, sick leave, parental support, voluntary benefits, commuter benefits, and employee discounts and perks.
Tesla Apprenticeship Selection: How Are Cohorts Chosen?
Although Tesla’s apprenticeship doesn't discriminate against ethnicity, gender, veteran, or disability status, you must possess the following requirements:
Tesla Apprenticeship Program Interview: Is the Tesla Interview Hard?
According to Glassdoor ratings, Tesla apprentice interviews have a 2.9 difficulty rate. To launch the interview process, you must submit an application online. You can start by checking for open positions on the Tesla Career page. In addition, you may be required to submit your school credentials, High School Diploma or GED, and a resume. The interview process may take three to four weeks. Upon review of your application, you'll be invited for your first interview with a recruiter from the hiring team. Then later, with a technical lead from one of Tesla's Engineering teams. The second interview may be conducted at one of Tesla's offices.
In the first interview, expect straightforward questions like why you want to work at Tesla. What is your definition of good customer service? What other job experience do you have? When was the last time you taught yourself something new? Or when was the last time you failed? In the second interview, you may be asked to name a process you've developed. For example, describe how a brake system works. How would you replace an inverter? Candidates who succeed at this stage may be invited to another interview with the hiring manager.
The goal of this interview may be to assess your cultural fitness. Tesla will send offers to the candidates after the interviews are completed and a hiring decision has been reached.
Tesla recruits apprentices on a one-on-one basis. As of the end of December 2022, the company revealed that it recruits over 3,000 university and community college students from around the world into its internship and apprenticeship programs annually from over 100 institutions and student organizations.
Tesla Apprenticeship Cohort Frequency: How Often is a Cohort Hired?
Tesla recruits new apprentices each year. The recruitment depends on the company’s hiring needs. However, you'll most likely find open positions for apprentices in the various seasons–Spring, Fall, Summer, and Winter–in a year.
Yes, Tesla is an excellent company to work for if you're excited about electric cars and love to be part of the team that has revolutionized the automotive industry. According to employee reviews from Glassdoor, Tesla has a 3.6 out of five-star rating for being exciting and fast-paced, having competent workers, casual dress code, having flexible work schedules, LGBTQIA+ friendly, having excellent products, good pay, and benefits, having cordial colleagues, offering an excellent work reference, and a great mission. Sixty-four percent of reviewers agree to recommend Tesla to a friend, and 71% approve of the CEO.
Yes, Tesla encourages all persons to apply to its apprenticeship and internship programs regardless of nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status. As long as you can relocate to the United States and have obtained a work permit to work in the country, you'll be considered for the position.
Can you get a job at Tesla with no experience?
You can get a Tesla job with little work experience or no college degree. Tesla's apprenticeship program welcomes candidates from all backgrounds regardless of their corporate experience level. All you need is a clear understanding of why you want to work at Tesla, a basic knowledge of the automotive or energy industry, and some keen computer skills.
Yes, Tesla ensures its apprentices are well compensated for contributing to the company's growth. Although it still needs to provide actual salary ranges for its apprentices, you can be sure that it would comply with the industry standard. For example, according to ratings on Glassdoor, an apprentice service technician at Tesla earns as much as $27 per hour.
The Tesla Careers page and the Tesla Blog are the best places to find news and updates about the company's products, community relations, employee welfare, life at Tesla, benefits, and compensation. You can also learn about Tesla’s tech stack, open apprenticeship roles, mission & core values, and hiring process.
To discover more about Tesla's diversity, equity, and inclusion impact in the workplace, you should visit the Tesla DEI page to download its latest DEI report.
You can explore available apprenticeship roles at Tesla from the Tesla Job Search page.
If you don’t want to track and monitor the Tesla apprenticeship program for yourself or are looking for support in an apprenticeship application, you can join apprenticeship.io to learn more and get support to land an apprenticeship program.
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