Samba TV Data Scientist Interview Questions
& Process

I had a positive experience with Samba TV. I feel valued and respected throughout the interview process, which is one of the reasons I accepted the offer. The recruiters are professional and work hard to make the recruiting process efficient. During my initial conversation with a recruiter, I was told that response time is usually within 48 hours after each step, and this definitely held true throughout the whole interview. I was most impressed by how the recruiter was willing to make things work for the candidate. After my initial phone interview with a team member, I was moved to the next steps, which were a 1hr phone coding interview and a 4hr take-home data challenge. The recruiter called to inform me of the next steps and wanted to schedule both on the phone. I suggested it might make sense to schedule one, see the feedback, and then schedule the next one. This way, if I were rejected in the first interview, I wouldn't waste time doing the 4hr take-home challenge. She took my advice and scheduled my interviews as I suggested. Some cons: the interview process is rather lengthy compared to other companies.

I wanted to share my experience at Samba TV to caution other job seekers about their unprofessional hiring process. I went through a few stages for a Senior Data Scientist role. The interviews were pretty tough and took a lot of my time. After we talked salary, I first turned down their offer because I had better ones. Near the end of the month, they contacted me again saying budgets had shifted and they could offer me more. I accepted, signed a letter of intent, and waited for the official contract. The HR person told me they were just updating contract templates and I'd get the final one soon. But, I got suspicious because the job ad stayed up and even got updated. When I asked for updates, they kept saying, "It's all good, the contract will be sent this week." The next day, I got a call saying they were "sorry" but withdrawing the offer because "something changed." A month later, I saw they hired someone local for a Data Scientist job—clearly for less money. My take is that this company kept interviewing other people behind my back to find someone cheaper while leading me on. This is really unprofessional and disrespectful to candidates who put time and trust into the process. Avoid these people—they don't value candidates and will waste your time if they find a cheaper option.

Started with a recruiter call to discuss my background and typical recruiter questions. Next was a take-home assignment where I had to analyze an A/B test that was previously run. The task was to replicate the findings of the data scientist who performed the test. I didn't pass this stage. There would have been more rounds with the hiring manager and a 4-hour virtual onsite if I had progressed.