Acing Your Relativity Space Interview: Common Questions and How to Prepare

Interviewing at an exciting startup like Relativity Space can be an intimidating experience. With their innovative 3D printing rockets and ambitious goals to transform space transportation, Relativity is one of the hottest companies in the aerospace industry right now.

Landing a job there means standing out from some of the most talented engineers and designers around. The interview process is therefore very rigorous, with multiple rounds of technical and behavioral questions designed to assess your skills and fit within the company.

While you can’t entirely predict what you’ll be asked there are many common themes and topics that tend to come up for certain roles. With the right preparation you can feel ready to ace even the toughest interview questions.

In this article, we’ll overview the types of questions asked at Relativity Space interviews, provide sample answers, and share the best ways to get ready. Read on to learn more!

Common Relativity Space Interview Questions

Relativity Space’s interview process is known for being highly technical. Expect multiple rounds of questions focused on assessing your engineering skills, knowledge, and problem-solving abilities for the specific role you’re applying to.

Some common themes and questions that come up include:

Behavioral Questions

• Tell me about yourself Focus on your background and experience most relevant to the role Highlight passion for space/aerospace and any noteworthy projects or achievements. Keep it professional.

• Why do you want to work at Relativity Space? Show genuine interest in their mission, technology, and company culture. Know their background and goals. Share why you’re inspired by their vision.

• Describe a time you faced a challenge on a team How did you handle it? Share a real example that demonstrates patience, leadership, and conflict resolution skills Explain the situation, actions you took, and results.

• Talk about a project you worked on that you are most proud of. What was your role and contribution? Pick an impressive technical project in a related field. Explain your specific contributions and the outcome. Stay focused on your own work, not the whole team.

Space Systems Engineering Questions

• Explain a complex space system you have worked on. What were the major subsystems and how did they interact? Demonstrate you can break down complex systems into subsystems and understand low-level details while still grasping the bigger picture system operation.

• How would you design a satellite propulsion system? What are the tradeoffs to consider? Show understanding of different propulsion technologies and their pros/cons. Explain your thought process in selecting an approach based on the mission requirements.

• What considerations go into designing a rocket payload fairing? What forces does it need to withstand? Show understanding of aerodynamic loading, vibration, acoustic, thermal environment, etc. that the fairing must protect the payload from. Demonstrate you can think through design from first principles.

• What are some challenges in designing reusable rocket systems? How might you mitigate those? Show understanding of stresses on rockets during launch/reentry and maintenance needs between flights. Suggest creative solutions Relativity could adopt from material selection to operational procedures.

Software Engineering Questions

• Explain how you would design a simulation of our rocket’s trajectory. What key parameters would you model? Demonstrate you can think through an object-oriented software design for complex physical system modeling. Show understanding of relevant equations of motion, external forces, etc. that must be captured.

• How would you detect errors in sensor readings from rocket hardware and filter out bad data? Explain approaches like setting thresholds and checking for physically impossible values. Suggest intelligent algorithms that could flag improbable readings for human review.

• How would you securely transmit sensitive engine performance data from the rocket back to Relativity? Suggest encrypted protocols and communications infrastructure approaches to ensure data remains private. Consider physical constraints like size, weight, and power consumption.

• **What techniques could improve the speed and efficiency of our manufacturing software? ** Demonstrate understanding of performance bottlenecks and optimizations like parallelization, efficient algorithms, caching, and hardware upgrading. Explain your approach to profiling and improving code.

3D Printing Questions

• What key parameters influence the quality of a 3D printed metal part? Show deep understanding of the effects of laser power, scan patterns, build orientation, supports, etc. on material properties and defects.

• How would you adjust the printing process to reduce residual stresses in a printed part? Discuss techniques like pre-heating, scanning strategies to balance heating, minimizing constraints, and post-processing thermal stress relief.

• What defects are common in metal 3D printing? How can they be prevented? Show knowledge of risks like cracking, porosity, delamination, and distortion. Suggest methods to detect and mitigate risks through monitoring and process adjustments.

• How could you maximize the strength of a printed rocket engine component while minimizing weight? Discuss smart print orientation, lattice structures, topology optimization, alloy selection, post-processing, and testing methods to achieve the best strength-to-weight ratio.

How to Effectively Prepare for Your Interview

With technical interviews covering so much ground, how can you possibly prepare for any curveballs they may throw your way? Here are some tips:

• Thoroughly research Relativity Space’s technology, mission plans, culture, and news coverage to understand their priorities and challenges. Being informed shows passion.

• Study rocket, propulsion, and spacecraft systems even if not your specialty. Reviewing basics shows broad engineering knowledge.

• Practice thinking aloud through example problems verbally. Explaining your thought process is key.

• Refresh your knowledge of relevant software languages, frameworks, algorithms and data structures you may apply in designs.

• Rehearse stories of your past projects and accomplishments so you can concisely walk through them. Quantify results when possible.

• Prepare snippets of code, diagrams, or calculations on a whiteboard to demonstrate technical communication skills.

• Review common behavioral questions and think of personal stories and examples you can use to illustrate desired qualities.

• Get a good night’s rest! Being well-rested will help you stay cool under pressure.

What to Expect from the Relativity Space Interview Process

Relativity Space’s interview process is designed to be very rigorous in order to secure the absolute best talent. Here’s an overview of what to expect:

• Prescreen call – 30 minute phone interview to screen basic skills and experience for the role.

• Technical phone interview – 1 hour call focused on high-level technical questions related to the role. Aims to validate and probe areas of experience listed on your resume.

• On-site interview – Full day of multiple rounds of technical discussions and design whiteboarding. Likely includes somewhat generic coding challenges. Attempts to really dig into your problem-solving abilities. Also includes behavioral interviews.

• Design project – Often given a multi-day take home design project relevant to the role to work through on your own time. This most closely resembles actual design work.

• Management interviews – Final round or two of interviews with project managers and engineering leadership. Focused on culture fit and communication skills.

The process is certainly intensive, but going in prepared helps ensure it feels like an engaging conversation about things you know well rather than an intimidating interrogation. With practice and confidence, you’ll be ready to tackle anything they throw your way. We wish you the best of luck on your upcoming Relativity Space interview!