I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Canonical (Edinburgh, Scotland) in Mar 2022
Interview
Cv drop. Decent delay. Next stages included a 30 point written response then a psychometric test. Then seemed to follow multiple (5?) interviews.
I requested salary range before we proceeded on any of the above, and was told no, so I withdrew.
This isn’t the way to hire, I don’t think. But as a private company, I guess this is their prerogative.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Career development
Describe your professional experiences with Linux and open source software.
Describe a technical skill you are proficient with, and how you attained it.
Describe your most significant experience of software engineering.
What is your proudest success as a manager, or leader?
What is your experience with organization and process design?
Outline the role of a chief of staff in shaping a high functioning team.
What are important drivers for productive relationships across the organization?
Describe a situation where you organized an effort to improve team performance.
Describe a recent case where you needed to grapple with an unfamiliar subject.
Describe your experiences with 24/7 support or engineering operations.
Management experience
What daily management or team habits do you think are essential, and why?
What are some of your approaches to drive organizational change?
How do you approach long-term planning and organizational scaling?
What experiences do you have prioritizing the agenda for leadership teams?
How do you handle recalcitrant or entrenched groups in the face of change?
What characteristics differentiate support from other engineering practices?
Engineering experience
What kinds of software or engineering support projects have you worked on before?
How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of Linux is?
Describe your experience with public or private clouds
Describe any experience you have contributing to open source
Outline any experience working with customers directly
Education
In high school, university, or continuing education, how did you fare in mathematics and physical sciences? Which were your strongest subjects, and how did you rank in your class?
Describe achievements that were considered exceptional by colleagues and staff.
What course and university did you choose, and why?
In school or university, what leadership roles did you take on?
Context
Outline your thoughts on the mission of Canonical. What is it about the company's purpose and goals which is most appealing to you? What do you think is risky or unappealing? Are there any elements of the company goals that you are unsure about?
Who do you see as competitors to Canonical, and in what ways do you think Canonical needs to change in order to be a more effective competitor?
Describe Canonical’s position in the market for enterprise infrastructure such as Openstack, Kubernetes, Linux and other products
Why do you most want to work for Canonical?
Why do you think you would be an outstanding candidate for this role?
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Canonical (Montreal, QC) in May 2024
Interview
Canonical intentionally has an unconventional interview process. In the early stage interview process there's an application, a written interview, a psychometric assessment, and three 1 hour interviews with three different people tasked with assessing different attributes. The late stage interviews are with the hiring manager and others. I was told the whole process could take several months. The written interview itself can take several hours with over 30 questions.
After going through the entire first round, I was rejected. One interviewer gave me feedback that I didn't have one type of experience they were looking for.
The organization seems like a decent one, and all of the interviewers were friendly and communicated well. Most gave the impression that they thought the interview process was a little bit ridiculous and is driven by the CEO's preferences. I thought the process was fine and may very well may lead to better outcomes, but we could have all saved a lot of time if they made it clear in the job description what the requirements were, or did a better job of initially screening applications.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Basic questions like "What's your leadership style?"