Canonical Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

So, first we did a written interview, then a psychometric assessment, followed by a Python coding test. After that, there were two more interviews, the first one was an early stage interview where we talked about software engineering and a project showcase, and the second one was also an early stage interview focusing on Linux and Open Source.

The interview process is a huge waste of time and extremely inefficient. It's very impersonable and they use an old-fashioned "aptitude test" that they weigh heavily. The test includes a letter comparison using a weird font where the lowercase 'g' looks like a 'q'. The initial document took me about 4 hours to write. The contact person doesn't respond, so I doubt they get any emails. They aim to reduce bias but have created an equally biased process. Using the GIA this way is misguided; it should be an early step to avoid wasting time on a document no one reads.

The interview process kicked off on June 25th, 2025, beginning with a written test, a timed technical assessment covering the ISBN check digit algorithm and another problem, and the GIA. There are online resources to help practice these, making them manageable. Following that, I had three interviews with different team members, all of which were positive experiences. The engineers seem to enjoy their work, although they did express dissatisfaction with the interview process's duration. They inquired about my Python assessment and asked general Python questions, such as about data types and function decorators, as well as Linux system concepts like the distinction between processes and threads. A personality assessment, lasting about 8 minutes, was also part of the process. Subsequently, I had a conversation with a Talent Scientist to review my resume, gain insights into Canonical, and discuss salary expectations. The talent scientist prompted me for my salary expectations, and I mentioned it was difficult to provide a precise figure given the broad job title of "Senior/Staff/Principal Engineer." She pressed for an estimate, so I provided a range for each potential role based on my experience, roughly $230k to $275k. She then asked for my current salary, which is illegal in my state. I declined to answer, so she asked for my minimum expected salary, which I stated as $230k, representing a significant raise. She indicated that meeting this figure might be challenging but thanked me for my time. Five days later, I received a rejection email, leading me to believe the salary expectations were too high. In total, I dedicated approximately 10-15 hours to the interview process, only to receive an automated rejection despite passing all prior stages, with no feedback provided. The interview process has a poor reputation, but in my opinion, it's not excessively difficult, just time-consuming. It's advisable to only invest time in applying if you are genuinely interested in working for Canonical or do not mind the extended application period. While the individuals I interacted with were great, I question the effectiveness of the interview process itself. Additionally, be aware of their bring-your-own-laptop policy and the requirement for at least two international trips per year for in-person meetups, which could be a pro or con depending on your preferences.