The process takes longer. They have many rounds, but I think that is needed for their style of operation. They have written assessment, psychometric assessment, and then a series of interviews.
I don't believe there is specific HR that does hiring as a senior member of the team was the one looking over my resume. The first step was a long written interview - around 30 questions (?) My response ended up being around 9 pages long. The questions weren't difficult as it was to get a better understanding of you, but just long and tedious.
I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Canonical in Feb 2023
Interview
I applied to two positions, the Linux Systems Engineer and the Linux Support Engineer. For the Linux Support Engineer, I went through the lengthy process detailed below and made it to the early stages. I was pushed through to the late stage by my interviewers, but then got an automated email saying that I would not be proceeding. For the Linux Systems Engineer role, I made it to and submitted the technical test. Following that, I got an automated email saying that I would not be proceeding. Overall, it's a ridiculous hiring process that I will not subject myself to again. I am a more than qualified candidate, and spent hours answering their questions only to get turned down. Based on the other reviews and interviews, I wouldn't feel bad at all getting turned down - it doesn't seem within the candidate's control. Don't waste your time. Application review An experienced Hiring Lead from our business will review your CV submission against the job criteria set for this role. Assessment There are several parts to this stage: The Written Interview: As the first part of this stage we invite you to submit your answers to some questions specifically designed so that we can find out more about your experience and skill set. This is your opportunity to highlight your key strengths for this position. To ensure that we mitigate against unconscious bias in our hiring process we ask that you refrain from including any personal identifiable information in this document. Psychometric assessment: As part of our professional review this assessment will help us to understand your fluid intelligence. Technical tests: Some roles will require a technical assignment to be completed. Early stage Our interviews are a blend of technical and competency based interviews. If successful you will also meet a member of our Talent Team. Late stage During this stage you will meet with some of our more senior leads and executives who will form part of your management team.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Written interview questions: Engineering experience What kinds of software projects have you worked on before? Which operating systems, development environments, languages, databases? Would you describe yourself as a strong coder? Why? Would you describe yourself as a strong architect? If so, why, and in which sorts of applications? Outline your thoughts on open source software development. What is important to get right in open source projects? What open source projects have you contributed to? Have you been an open source maintainer? On which projects, and what was your role? Education How did you fare in high school mathematics, physical sciences and computing? Which were strengths and which were most enjoyable? How did you rank, competitively, in them? Which degree and university did you choose, and why? Which university courses did you perform best at? How did you rank in your degree? What did you achieve in high school or university that you consider exceptional? Context How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of a Linux distribution is, from the kernel up? How familiar are you with low-level system architecture, runtimes and Linux distro packaging? How have you gained this knowledge? Outline your thoughts on quality in software development. What practices are most effective to drive improvements in quality? Describe your experience of continuous integration and testing. What tools and processes do you think are relevant to Ubuntu quality? 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 is risky or unappealing? Who are Canonical's key competitors, and how should Canonical set about winning? Why do you most want to work for Canonical? What would you most want to change about Canonical?
