Staff Software Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Samsara with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 60% positive. To compare, the company-average is 50.8% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Staff Software Engineer roles take an average of 19 days to get hired, when considering 5 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Samsara overall takes an average of 24 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Samsara as a Staff Software Engineer according to 5 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 36%
Phone interview: 36%
Presentation: 9%
Group panel interview: 9%
Skills test: 9%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. I interviewed at Samsara in Jul 2026
Interview
I applied for a job I thought I had skills for (in devEx), but after talking to the recruiter he didn't think this would be a good fit for me and suggested another position in Routing org. I didn't think I'd have the right skills for it, but figured I can still give it a try. It sounded like an interesting problem to solve.
The recruiter was one of the best ones I have worked with so far. He was very detail oriented, provided excellent personalized prep and feedback. Even after a rejection dedicated time to talk through feedback in person.
While I didn't progress to the next stage I really enjoyed going though that process and wish more recruiters where like that.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design a system for an app to turn on/off a remote smart bulb.
As you prep for this, make sure you really understand the tech to use in depth. Can't just know the basics for this since the interviewer will dig deep and will ding only only surface knowledge.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Samsara (Warsaw, Masovia) in Jul 2024
Interview
Regular, short HR calls, phone screening, and then on-site deep-dive interviews. I didn't manage to pass the phone screen, but my overall impression and experience are pretty good.
There was one bad experience - I got mixed information about the next steps. While I was initially informed that the next step would be a coding interview, it turned out to be a solution design interview instead. Although this might be expected for the solution design portion, I wasn't asked to lead the entire system design process. Instead, I was immediately bombarded with a series of questions. This led to a negative point of not providing a comprehensive view of the solution and not leading the topic effectively.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
It was a regular system design question that required a comprehensive design with clearly articulated trade-offs.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Samsara (San Francisco, CA) in Mar 2023
Interview
The most efficient and professional onsite interviews I had! I interviewed for an infrastructure/platforms focused role, got an offer, but ultimately decided another company was a better fit. I applied online and the recruiter reached out on the same day. I had a system design technical screen, then four onsite interviews. The onsites were mostly focused on behavioural questions but also included system design questions. I was told the staff role is more about strategic contributions, leadership, and cross-functional work rather than specific deep knowledge or coding. Remote work: they really seem invested in this, which is great. I talked to a few companies which were either in denial and not optimizing for remote work, or the employees interviewing me insisted that remote work was okay but the recruiters told me it wasn't.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Fairly straightforward design and behavioural questions. The interviews felt collaborative. Unlike a few other companies, I didn't get the sense they were trying to quiz me or expecting specific answers.