Samsara Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

First there was an online assessment with 2 easy-medium Leetcode questions, and some Golang and Python multiple choice questions. Then a recruiter screen where they asked about past experience, why I want to join, and went over my CV. After that, a 60-minute technical screen: 45 minutes for a multipart problem that wasn't Leetcode-style but more data processing focused, and 15 minutes to ask the interviewer about culture and work. If I get an offer, there will be an offer call after a final round interview with the Engineering Lead talking about projects.

I applied online and a recruiter contacted me about a week later to schedule a call. During the recruiter call, we discussed my experience, and they provided information about the company and the role. Following that, I was scheduled for a Live Coding Interview. While I felt I performed adequately, I was later informed I wasn't successful, and the feedback arrived a few days after the interview. The interview involved implementing a specific task rather than traditional algorithms. The subsequent stages would have included another live coding interview, a hiring manager interview, and what I believe was a system design interview. The recruiter outlined the full process at the start. My part of the process moved quickly, but I only completed the initial stages.

Samsara uses Brighthire for interviews, recording your answers. The whole thing takes about a month, mainly because interviewers are busy or take time to give feedback. There are usually 6 rounds, plus a final one with HR if you pass the first 6. The first 5 rounds are pretty good until you get to the 6th with a Sr Director. Unfortunately, his feedback was based on something he didn't even ask in the interview. He seemed totally disengaged and uninterested for the whole 30 minutes, yawning and checking his phone. Maybe it was a fluke, but it was really disappointing to see that attitude from leadership, especially after I prepared hard and spent a lot of time learning about Samsara. It's hard to figure out what he wanted because his expectations didn't match the other interviewers or the questions asked. They mention topics to prepare and aligning with company values when scheduling, but the last round's questions were off-topic, focusing on Automation strategy, which felt irrelevant given the job title and previous interview questions. Seems like a mismatch between the other interviewers and the Sr director. I wish they'd be more transparent about expectations from the start so candidates don't waste time going through so many rounds just to be rejected.