9 ex-Tesla employees reveal the best parts of working there

Seeing how excited customers were when they received their cars

"The best part was really just working with an amazing team of inspired people who want to make the world a better place and, of course, delivering that awesome Tesla experience to customers — getting them into their cars, seeing that look on their face for the first time when they either use Autopilot or slam on the accelerator," a former salesperson said.

Tesla's reputation

"Tesla had that cool factor," the former salesperson added. "I'd walk around town with my work badge all the time just because I wanted to show off that I worked at Tesla."

A collaborative culture

"The environment that I started with was amazing," a former delivery employee said. "It felt like everyone wanted to come to work. Everyone wanted to be there. It felt like a real family-shop vibe. People, if they saw you were getting stressed, they'd try to help divvy out your workload, so they'd kind of step in, and everyone would help each other out."

Employee discounts

"You got discounts everywhere," including at movie theaters and Disneyland, a former production employee said.

Being able to watch the engineers work

"My favorite part of Tesla was being able to sit around people who designed [the vehicles]," a former production employee said. "These engineers were just brainiacs," he said, adding that he once watched a Tesla engineer drive a Roadster from the passenger's seat after plugging his computer into the car.

The high standards

"The best part working for Tesla is they hired really good people most of the time, and if you're not really good, you get let go," a former delivery employee said. "You have to believe in what you're doing in those buildings or you're not going to have a spot tomorrow. I think that was the best part because it took me back to the camaraderie I had in the military."

How the company adapts and the fast pace

"The best thing about a company like Tesla is that the ability and willingness to change and adapt in an instant was always there," said a former employee who worked on customer-service initiatives, citing as an example Tesla's delivery operation during the third and fourth quarters of 2018. During each, the company set a record for the most vehicles delivered in one quarter, a record that was broken again this year.

"In any experience I've ever had with any other company, Tesla moved faster than anyone else," the former employee said.

Being able to build things

"My favorite part, aside from the coworkers, is that I get to build stuff," a former production employee, who has since left the company, said. "I enjoy putting stuff together."

The level of commitment from coworkers

"The best thing was how bought-in everyone was to the company and the mission," a former salesperson said.

Autonomy

"The best part is you control your own destiny," a former engineer said. "[CEO Elon Musk] literally gives you as much rope as you want."

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