Pleasanton Teen Graduates College, Gets Hired At SpaceX: Reports

PLEASANTON, CA — When schools talk about an “accelerated” course of study, they probably aren’t imagining graduating from high school at nine, and graduating college and getting hired at SpaceX at 14.

But that’s exactly what just happened to Kairan Quazi, a Pleasanton native who’s moving up in the world almost as quickly as the rockets his new employer designs. After graduating from Santa Clara University this spring and interviewing for more than 95 other companies, Kairan was hired as a software engineer for SpaceX’s Starlink division, which provides satellite and internet access, according to multiple reports.

“Next stop...SpaceX!!! I accepted a position as Software Engineer at one of the coolest companies on the planet! Follow me on LinkedIn - see bio for link. Thank you everyone for continuing to follow my crazy journey!” Kairan wrote on his Instagram page next to a photo of his offer letter.

His “crazy journey” began at around age two, when Kairan was already speaking in full sentences, according to a profile in Fox Business. At seven, he started learning pre-calc and computer programming. By third grade, Quazi was finding traditional school a “slow suffocation,” and found himself getting sent to the principal’s office almost daily.

“It turns out teachers don’t really like it when you want to be a co-instructor,” he told FOX Business. His parents took him to a psychologist, who said that he was an “outlier among outliers” already ready for college, according to a Washington Post profile. Kairan reportedly screamed ecstatically when he heard the news.

He passed his high school equivalency test, enrolled at Las Positas College - one of the few that would accept a nine-year-old - and got an associate degree. He then enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he majored in computer science and engineering, and took several graduate-level courses in machine learning, KRON-4 reported. By the time he was ready to graduate, he could already code in 12 languages, and was the youngest intern at Intel Labs’ Human AI Lab, according to KRON-4.

The job market may be tough, but everything becomes a bit more complicated when you’re just 14. The federal minimum working age is 14, but only for certain types of jobs. However, since Kairan had already passed his high school equivalency test, he was immune to those restrictions. But even though he was legally allowed to work - just barely - he told several outlets that he received 95 rejections.

“The rejections would come literally within hours of the recruiters seeing me on the Zoom interviews so I never even got to meet the hiring managers at these 95 companies. All three offers were from companies where the leadership values matched the talent acquisition process. Nobody winced at my age,” Kairan told USA Today.

Just three companies said yes, and one of them was SpaceX, which is notorious for its rigorous interview process.

“They draw people who are similarly driven by radical innovation and collaborative impact. SpaceX has something like a 0.2% acceptance rate for applicants. So the fact that their hiring managers believe I have the potential to be among the top engineers in the country is humbling,” he told USA Today.

He starts in July, and is currently moving with his mother to the company’s location in Redmond, Washington, outside Seattle.

Patch reached out to Kairan through Santa Clara University, but was told he is no longer accepting interviews.