I recently completed four rounds of interviews with Samsara for the Senior IT Automation Engineer I role, including a detailed home assignment. Throughout the process, the conversations were engaging and the team was technically strong. The feedback from HR was that my technical interviews went well and the team appreciated the solution I submitted for the assignment.
However, I was ultimately not selected and the reason provided was genuinely disappointing. HR informed me that although the team liked my work, they were looking for someone who could work independently in IST time without relying much on the US team due to time zone overlap.
Frankly, this was surprising and frustrating. If time zone independence was a critical requirement, it should have been clarified upfront especially considering the role was being hired for the India location. Going through four rounds of interviews and a detailed assignment, only to be rejected due to something logistical that could have been addressed early, felt like a waste of time and effort.
Samsara appears to be building a strong technical culture, but I hope they improve transparency during the hiring process especially around expectations like working hours or time zone constraints.