# S6E30 Jake Whinnery | Resources for Interviewing & Landing Engineering Jobs

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2025-07-25
- Length: 53m
- Episode: 30
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs

## Summary

Jake Whinnery, a mechanical engineer at Apple and co-founder of Hardware Is Hard, discusses his journey from internships at Tesla, Relativity Space, and NASA to leading a community resource for 13,000+ engineers. He explains how Hardware Is Hard provides interview guides, technical Q&As, and career advice to help mechanical engineers land roles at top tech companies. Whinnery highlights the importance of internships, the specific technical questions asked in hardware interviews, and emerging trends in AR/VR, US manufacturing, and robotics.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=0) Introduction: Jake Whinnery and Hardware Is Hard
- [2:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=145) College Internships at Relativity Space, Tesla, and NASA
- [11:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=692) The Value of Gap Years and Internships for Career Trajectory
- [17:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=1021) Founding Hardware Is Hard and Building the Newsletter
- [25:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=1530) Common Technical Interview Questions and Strategies
- [36:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=2182) Paid Content: Books, Cheat Sheets, and Job Databases
- [40:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=2401) Time Management, Productivity, and Mental Health
- [49:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2025-07-25-s6e30-jake-whinnery-resources-for-interviewing-landing-engineering-jobs#t=2976) Emerging Hardware Trends: AR/VR, US Manufacturing, and Robotics

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)
- [Founder wellbeing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/founder-wellbeing)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Apple (company)
- Tesla (company)
- Relativity Space (company)
- NASA Ames (company)
- Meta (company)
- Hardware Is Hard (product)
- Formula SAE (other)
- Hyperloop (other)
- Enable Tech (other)
- Procter and Gamble (company)
- Triple Ring (company)
- University of Waterloo (other)
- Glassdoor (tool)
- PitchBook (tool)
- ChatGPT (tool)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [For Hardware Startups by Hardware People: Building The Builder Circle with Host, Sera Evcimen](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2026-01-06-for-hardware-startups-by-hardware-people-building-the-builder-circle-with-host-s) (The Builder Circle)
- [1: Start Tinkering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-05-16-1-start-tinkering) (Embedded.fm)
- [An Interview with Luke Iseman of yCombinator](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-09-24-an-interview-with-luke-iseman-of-ycombinator) (The Amp Hour)
- [An Interview with Simone Giertz](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-01-13-an-interview-with-simone-giertz) (The Amp Hour)
- [Vellicate Videogame Vocation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-04-23-vellicate-videogame-vocation) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

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