Samsara

Role: Software Engineer

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: July 22, 2024

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Rejected

Difficulty: Medium

Rounds: 5 rounds

Topics Asked: String Parsing, HTML Tag Insertion, Command Line Argument Parsing, System Design, Behavioral

Experience:

The interview process for a Software Engineer role at Samsara consisted of five rounds.

The first round was a phone screen, which involved discussing the role and general questions about suitability.

The second round was a technical phone screen, lasting one hour. In a Coderpad environment, the candidate was asked to code a solution to parse a large string with various punctuation marks (like line breaks, paragraphs, and symbols) to insert HTML tags such as <br> and <strong> tags. Although the candidate didn't finish, they were forthcoming in discussing their work and potential changes.

The subsequent round was a "gruelling gauntlet" of three hour-long interviews.

One was another coding interview, which involved making a service to parse command-line arguments into a usable format. The candidate was asked about the best format to return the parsed arguments and to code a solution to meet three criteria, which mainly involved string parsing and formatting.

The system design interview involved designing a service where users could upload CSV files of card payments for vehicle fleets. The service needed to compile these into a large list and enable users to track payments and detect fraudulent ones. This round was described as challenging, with the interviewer frequently disagreeing with the candidate's proposals.

The behavioral interview focused heavily (70%) on an in-depth discussion of a previous project, including its planning, execution, successes, and areas for improvement. Standard questions about teamwork and conflict resolution were also covered.

Overall, the interview experience was generally good, with the exception of the system design round.