Grounded in the real hiring process
Built from the employer's own process and public material, not candidate reports. Sign up and tell us what you were actually asked.
02 / Hiring process
Four stages, and one of them decides it
4 stages from application to offer. Technical rounds is reported to be the one that decides it.
4stages
01
Recruiter screen background, motivation and fit
A first conversation reported to assess background and basic fit before any technical evaluation begins.
02
Technical rounds take-home project plus two live technical interviews
For technical roles, reported as a take-home coding project followed by two separate live rounds, one focused on backend logic and one a system design whiteboard conversation.
03
Hiring manager and team fit skills, experience and collaboration
A conversation with the hiring manager evaluating skills and experience, often paired with a team fit session meeting potential future teammates.
04
Director or VP round and decision for some roles, then an offer
Some roles include a final conversation with a director or VP to finalize the evaluation, reported to average around 24 days from first contact to decision.
Ask before the interview: what will this round cover, who will I meet, and is there anything I should prepare?The question almost nobody asks
03 / Question library
Interview question practice library
The technical rounds, the hiring manager conversation, and the five named values apply broadly across departments, so the core set below covers that ground. Each department then adds the depth specific to it.
61questions
Asked in every interviewAsked in every Samsara interview
01 Why Samsara, and why this department specifically? Why Samsara Open guide
Find your angle. Checks whether a candidate picked the specific department for a real reason tied to physical operations, not general interest in IoT or software.
Build your answer
- Name the actual department. Not just Samsara generally.
- Tie it to something concrete you've done. A real experience pointing at this department.
- State what you want to own there specifically. Concrete, not vague ambition.
Bring the evidence
Name one specific fact about the department you applied to that most Samsara applicants wouldn't mention.
What weakens it
Samsara is doing important work digitizing physical operations and I want to be part of that.
Likely follow upWhat would your first ninety days in this specific department realistically involve?
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.02 Tell me about a time you built or fixed something specifically for someone whose job happens away from a desk, not in front of a screen. Field work Open guide
Find your angle. Samsara builds for operators in the field, not office knowledge workers, testing whether a candidate has real experience designing for hands-on, physical work.
Build your answer
- Describe the physical, hands-on job. Concrete, not abstract.
- Explain what made their situation different from a desk-based user. Specific.
- State whether the solution actually fit their real conditions. Honest.
Bring the evidence
Name the one specific condition of their physical work that a desk-based design would have missed, and how you accounted for it.
What weakens it
I design the same way regardless of who's using it.
Likely follow upWhat would you have done if the solution had worked at a desk but failed in the actual physical conditions?
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.03 Describe a time you had to complete a substantial piece of work entirely on your own, with no one available to answer questions along the way. Assessment format Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.04 Tell me about a time you had to explain and defend a specific backend or logic decision to someone probing it closely. Pushback Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.05 Describe a time you had to design something on the spot in front of someone, narrating your reasoning as you went rather than presenting a finished plan. System design Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.06 Tell me about a time you had to demonstrate you'd work well with a specific team, separate from proving your individual skill. Team fit Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.07 Describe a time you deliberately chose a slower, more sustainable pace over a faster approach that would have looked good short-term. Judgment Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.08 Tell me about a time something didn't work out, and you treated it as a real learning opportunity rather than just moving past the disappointment. Learning Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.09 Describe a time someone with a genuinely different background or viewpoint changed an actual decision you were making, not just the tone of a discussion. Perspective Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.10 Tell me about a time you held a teammate accountable for a result, or were held accountable yourself, in a way that made the relationship stronger, not weaker. Accountability Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.11 Describe a time you had to explain a real risk or cost to someone who wasn't technical, in a way that actually changed what they did next. Communication Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.12 Tell me about a time you had to stay engaged and motivated through a process that took much longer than you expected. Patience Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.13 What's something about how you work that would show up in your first month here, not in this interview? Weakness Locked
Pro
Build this answer out of your own experience
The guide for this question: what the stage is scoring, three steps to structure the response, the evidence worth bringing, what weakens it, and the follow up. Then Pro drafts your version of it against your CV, so you walk in with your own answer rather than someone else's script.
Subscribe to Pro Unlimited preparation, every question, every company.Marketing6 to practise
6 questions
The questions this role actually gets asked
The core set above is asked whatever you applied for. These 6 are specific to Marketing, and they are usually what the decision turns on.
Create a free accountWhat you get
Less than the cost of one lunch, for a great deal more confidence.- Unlimited tailored interview preparation
- A massive database of actual questions and answer guides
Role specific
Pick your role and the list narrows to what that role tends to get asked.
A guide for every answer
What the question is testing, three steps to build your answer, and the evidence to bring.
Prepared, not guessing
You walk in knowing the shape of the round and which of your own stories fits it.
04 / In the news
Worth mentioning in the room
The strongest answer to why this company is something that happened last month.
4stories
Free account
What happened at this employer this month
Stories screened from everything published about this employer, chosen because they can be used in the room rather than because they are recent.
- Each one carries a line on how to use it in the answer
- Crime, recalls, litigation and share price moves are excluded outright
- Refreshed daily, so it is different the week of your interview
05 / The five values
What is actually being scored
Samsara publishes five values in this exact language on its own company blog, written directly by its CEO. Bring one real story for each rather than a general answer about wanting to work on physical operations technology.
5stories
Focus on Customer Success
A time you partnered with someone to solve their actual problem, not just the one they first described.
Build for the Long Term
A time you deliberately worked at a sustained pace rather than rushing toward a short-term win.
Adopt a Growth Mindset
A time something didn't work out and you treated it as a real learning opportunity rather than a disappointment to move past quickly.
Be Inclusive
A time a different background or perspective on your team changed a real decision, not just a meeting's tone.
Win as a Team
A time you held a teammate accountable for a result, or were held accountable yourself, in a way that strengthened trust rather than damaging it.
06 / Before you apply
Where candidates lose it
Pro
Where candidates lose this before anyone meets them
The part of the process that eliminates most people is not the interview. It is what happens around it, and almost none of it is written down anywhere.
- The assessment answers that read as dishonest rather than confident
- What the availability question is really deciding
- The application detail that cannot be edited once submitted
Interview in 48 Hours
Turn your experience into your advantage.Bring your own stories to the interview. Start with the role, build your preparation sheet.