I applied online. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Canonical (Ottawa, ON) in Jun 2021
Interview
The interview process was completely ridiculous. I had to write a 20-page essay in response to dozens of questions from the CEO. Then I had to do an online aptitude test. Then I had to do an online personality assessment test. Then I had *five* different interview with various technical leads, all of which seemed to go well. Finally, i had an interview with the CEO and that's when everything went off the rails. He was belligerent and said that basically I would be a diversity hire. When I disagreed with him, he made it all about himself and asked "Well, what's something I got right?" and when I couldn't think of anything, he became even angrier. I knew within a minute I wouldn't be offered a job, and even if I were, there's no way I would have accepted it.
The entire process was a huge waste of time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They didn't ask too many direct technical questions. Mostly just questions about my background and my philosophy regarding software development. Of course, none of the questions mattered because it all came down to the CEO's personal biases; the entire leadup was a giant sham.
Very long process. Starts with a long written assignment, intelligence, and personality tests, and continues with 5-7 interviews.
I failed the 6th one with the CTO. There is no clear selection criteria. It is just a matter of whether or not they like you. I suppose it went well until the last one. CTO being a very technical person and has a "personality" with obvious weakness in communication compared to the other interviewers. He had not seen my CV before the interview. The questions were not clear, and we had to go back and forth to make it clear enough to be answered. I also felt competitiveness when he compared my projects with those of his own.
These people are not necessarily as horrible as pictured in most of the comments. In fact, they are very decent and smart. Nevertheless, going through the cumbersome process may not worth it. Apply at your own risk.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
History of the works you have done before, and what brought you to this company.