Musk says interviews should carry more weight than résumés

Elon Musk said hiring managers should put more trust in a candidate interview than in a polished résumé. The view carries weight because Musk oversees about 200,000 employees across five companies and has long taken a hands-on role in staffing, Fortune reported.

Musk discussed his approach during a joint podcast appearance with Stripe cofounder John Collison and tech podcaster Dwarkesh Patel. He said he asks his teams to look for evidence that a candidate has done exceptional work, rather than relying on brand-name employers or academic credentials.

In the early years of SpaceX, Musk interviewed the company’s first few thousand employees himself, Fortune reported, citing prior comments by Musk. He later shifted more of that work to staff as the company grew and his time became more limited.

Credentials can mislead, Musk says

Musk told Collison and Patel that a résumé can look strong while the actual discussion with a candidate falls short. If a conversation does not produce a clear sense that the person is exceptional after about 20 minutes, he said, hiring teams should believe that signal.

He also said he has made the mistake of assuming that people from companies such as Google or Apple would succeed because of where they had worked. Musk described that as falling for the idea that employees from admired companies carry a kind of “pixie dust,” Fortune reported.

Musk said he now gives more weight to talent, energy and trustworthiness. He added that he once placed too little emphasis on whether a candidate was a good person, according to Fortune.

The approach comes after years of intense competition for engineers and executives in Silicon Valley. Musk said Apple once aggressively recruited Tesla leaders and engineers, and CNBC reported in 2018 that Apple had hired 46 former Tesla employees for its electric vehicle project and other roles.

Musk said Apple offered some Tesla workers twice their Tesla pay, Fortune reported. He said job-switching in Silicon Valley can be easier because employees often can change companies without moving or changing their routines.

Turnover and rewards at Musk companies

Musk said Tesla’s senior leadership now has an average tenure of 10 to 12 years, according to Fortune. He also acknowledged that the company had more frequent executive changes during an earlier period of faster growth.

Some Musk companies have faced recent senior departures. The Financial Times reported that Tesla’s chief information officer and senior figures in public affairs, U.S. battery operations and powertrain operations left the company in recent years.

At xAI, Chief Financial Officer Mike Liberatore left for OpenAI after three months, Fortune reported. In a LinkedIn post cited by Fortune, Liberatore wrote that he had spent 102 days working seven days a week in the office and more than 120 hours per week.

The Financial Times reported that employees believed Musk had increased pressure at xAI because of his competition and personal rivalry with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In August, Musk sued OpenAI and Apple, alleging they sought to limit AI competition, while OpenAI accused Musk of harassment and trying to slow its progress, Fortune reported.

Workers who remained at Musk-led companies have also seen large financial gains. Fortune reported that SpaceX’s June 12 IPO turned many employees into multimillionaires, with Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell’s stake reported to be worth more than $2 billion before the listing and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen’s stake worth $1.4 billion on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that former SpaceX welder Juan Hernandez received a $10,000 equity stake when hired full time. Fortune said his remaining shares are now worth well over $1.1 million after he sold some of the stake in 2020.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.