Tesla recruits local Structural Designer
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - Lots of young professional people use LinkedIn, a business and employment-focused social media platform. The subject of this story, Cameron Barton, uses this platform occasionally to check salaries, etc. Cameron is a Structural/Mechanical /Designer and a 2008 graduate of Cottage Grove High School.
About three months ago, Cameron was contacted by Tesla – yes, that Tesla – and encouraged to apply for a job in Austin, Texas, where the company is building a new campus referred to as Gigafactory Texas. This will be a 500,000 square foot automotive manufacturing facility. It is estimated that the project will take at least 20 years to finish. Tesla expects to produce 5,000 Model Y vehicles a week at the Gigafactory plant.
Barton’s contact on LinkedIn encouraged him to apply for one of the openings on the design team. Barton was currently employed as a Structural Designer at Evergreen Engineering in Eugene. He has also taught BIM (Building Information Modeling) at Lane Community College and worked designing HVAC systems.
“When they first contacted me, my jaw dropped,” Barton said, “but then the more they talked about the job, the more comfortable and confident I felt about applying.”
The application process was a grueling one. Barton completed four (Microsoft Works) TEAMS interviews with Tesla personnel executives and was then asked to prepare a 20-minute power point presentation about his applicable experience.
“I already had a full-time job, so that pretty much occupied my evenings for a while,” Barton commented.
The Texas team apparently liked Barton’s presentation because the next discussion was concerned with what level of expertise he would be placed at. He was offered the position of Senior Structural Designer at a generous salary.
Next came a background check (he passed) and contract issued by Elon Musk.
Barton commented, “I still can't believe I signed a contract written by Elon Musk himself. I've looked up to this guy for quite a while now, he's an icon and a visionary in my eyes.”
Barton isn’t worried about tackling the job with Tesla because he’s confident about his skills and ability.
“I am a little nervous about moving, though,” he said. “My family is all here, and I won’t be
related to anybody in Texas. Fortunately, I have a couple of friends there.”
Barton is also interested in checking out the Austin music scene. He performs hip-hop and rap under the performing name “Lucky Savage” and has performed at several area venues.
“Austin is the music capitol of the world, so it will be fun to check it out,” Barton added.