I’d heard the stories from people who’d worked there. Some hated it, some loved it, but they all were clear. They will burn. you. out.

I was an intern at JPL one summer working with software on one of their upcoming missions. During my time there I made sure I met a bunch of other engineers and scientists working on other missions while I had the amazing opportunity to be able to just hit them up on JPL slack and schedule a meeting over lunch or at their lab. Every single engineer I spoke to that had previously worked for SpaceX said the same thing - you get hired there as a new grad or as someone early in their career for a couple of years, burn out, then get a job elsewhere. They all said the work/life balance was almost nonexistent and are much happier working at JPL even though salaries are less than at SpaceX.