
The Diary of an Ex-Tesla Intern - prostoalex
https://www.fastcompany.com/40430865/the-diary-of-an-ex-tesla-intern
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jnsaff2
Wow, the Clickbait Enforcement Officer will surely win this years Golden
Eleven award for the original title. The content reads like a Tesla PR piece
all the while the title hints at yet Silicon Valley expose.

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mabcat
What's "Golden Eleven" in reference to?

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jnsaff2
[https://youtu.be/uMSV4OteqBE?t=1m16s](https://youtu.be/uMSV4OteqBE?t=1m16s)
\+ golden as in golden globes.

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jeffwass
This bit is interesting :

"I remember distinctly my first day, a full-time software engineer asked me to
finish coding something that was to be pushed out in a firmware update later
in the day. He rattled off a few instructions, told me to be careful not to
ruin all the cars, and promptly ran off to a meeting."

Is this for real? An intern on their first day writing production code to be
pushed into a firmware update for same-day release?

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Someone
FTA: "I focused specifically on technical documentation and diagnosis of
issues with Model S components. _I also worked on the product development of
internal widgets_ "

So, he didn't work on things like battery firmware or self-driving. That makes
it _slightly_ more believable, but I think the probability is higher that this
was either a prank, or they checked his work behind his back.

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Ntrails
> or they checked his work behind his back

I'd be pretty sad if there was code being pushed out at Tesla which wasn't
checked first. I don't think the implication is that it wouldn't be checked,
just that they felt that they got to make a meaningful contribution on the
first day.

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cbanek
"ate a ton of Costco breakfast sausages. I must have eaten close to 15-25
sausages a day"

I knew it was a sausage fest, but I misunderstood what kind of sausage fest.

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danbolt
I wonder how he'd feel after 450mg of cholesterol each day, too!

[1] [http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/costco-
breakfast-s...](http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/costco-breakfast-
sausage-links-breakfast-sausage-links-323243343)

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AstralStorm
Cholesterol is fine, the lack of vitamins is not. Too little potassium too.
Also never mix this with much sugar.

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tckr
> Elon calls those working at Tesla the “special ops” of the industry. You’re
> expected to do more with less every single day

I hate it when leaders that probably never served in the military use
metaphors they don't understand for pushing employees to the limit.

SpecOps are all about having the best tools for the job, preparation,
training, in order to succeed on a mission.

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true_religion
Supply chain. Special ops are behind enemy lines without access to the supply
chain, backup, or ongoing intelligence. And despite all this they must
complete more difficult missions. That is doing more with less.

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Asooka
But to compensate for the less, they get more in other areas. The less they're
saddled with is dictated by circumstances, not as some form of cost cutting.
In fact, no expense is spared on the more they're given - the best training
and best equipment. They don't have to do more with less, they have to do more
with more, in harsher conditions.

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awjr
I think the more interesting thing here is probably what he doesn't mention.
Given the amount of sausages he appears to be eating daily I suspect he was
spending most of his day there. However his previous history also indicates
working all hours. I'm guessing if work dominates your life then Tesla is for
you. Personally I need a good work/life balance.

[edit] As mentioned in the comment below, "good work/life balance" is
subjective and "different work/life balance" is a better way of putting my
point across.

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sverhagen
Good is subjective. It resonates more with me, if you'd say: "I need a
_different_ work/life balance". Just as a suggestion...

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awjr
Have updated my original comment to reflect this. It's a very valid point.

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pitaa
You know, I think this is the first article I've seen on working for Tesla (or
SpaceX, for that matter) that has been wholly positive. Most of the time its
more "They work you like hell and I have no life outside of work, but damn is
this going to look good on my resume when I move on in a year"

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TeMPOraL
> _but damn is this going to look good on my resume when I move on in a year_

I'd guess those are exactly the people those companies want to avoid, so no
surprise those are also the people who are complaining the most.

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lucb1e
> As an intern [...] spent only 10% of my time on meetings

In my experience, interns spend maybe 2% of their time on meetings. Mostly
they are left to do their thing, be it alone (if you have a project, common in
higher levels of education) or with colleagues (more hands-on stuff; lower
levels of education). Is that different in America?

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intoverflow2
Honestly don't understand who has upvoted this, it's just a PR fluff piece.

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rosstex
Why is the webpage 100x longer than the article?

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kalms
And he didn't get to drive one of the cars? I would be flippin' tables and
causing all kinds of scenes!

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imron
Site scrolling is horribly broken on mobile. I couldn't read beyond 1
paragraph.

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UrbancicM
[https://outline.com/entYNq](https://outline.com/entYNq)

