After applying through their website, the next stage was filling in approximately 20 written questions (which seems to be the standard first stage for Canonical). I did not have strong feelings about this stage in the process, but it did appear to be time-consuming. Additionally, some of the questions did seem a little odd. In particular, the questions about high school - it was not clear to me why my high school mathematics and computing grades would matter when I studied these at university level.
However, I received an offer from another company before I had finished the written questions, so I tried to withdraw my Canonical application. I could not contact the hiring manager who had sent me the questions to withdraw the application, as he did not seem to receive any of my emails. This was somewhat frustrating - I have never had an experience like this with any other company I have interviewed with, and the only contact detail I had been given was this email address.
Eventually, the hiring manager emailed me to say they had ended my application because I hadn’t responded to the questions.
This was a very strange experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How did you rank competitively in mathematics, physical sciences and computing in high school?
The interview process included four stages: an initial phone screen with a recruiter, a technical phone interview covering Python fundamentals and algorithms, a live pair-programming session on a real-world task, and a final interview focused on system design and team fit. Each step lasted between 45 and 60 minutes. The interviewers asked for explanations of tradeoffs and for code clarity.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you design a scalable Python microservice to handle high request volume?
I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Canonical in Aug 2025
Interview
I applied for a position at Canonical and the initial response was very fast and promising. Within a day, a Hiring Manager reached out, expressing positive feedback on my CV.
The first step was a demanding writing assignment: a three-page essay answering a detailed set of personal and professional questions. I dedicated about a week to completing this, and the feedback was immediate and positive—the HM was happy with the essay.
Following the essay, I was required to complete a technical Online Assessment (OA), which I successfully cleared by passing all test cases.
The next stage was the Thomas GIA Test (General Intelligence Assessment). I invested the time to complete all five sections. My results showed I performed Acceptable (average/satisfactory) in four sections and Exceptional (above average) in the Numerical Information section, indicating a strong capability for the role's requirements.
Given the positive feedback on the CV and essay, the successful clearance of the technical OA, and satisfactory cognitive assessment scores, I felt highly confident about moving forward. However, I was promptly hit with a generic rejection email, stating they had decided to proceed with other candidates.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Technical interview had string based Python questions
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Canonical in Jun 2025
Interview
Too many steps. First I had to do 3 steps (assessment) in order to gain access to actually talk with people which included:
1. Answer 30 questions
2. Do some online tests that are supposed to measure your intelligence
3. Do an online python assessment (similar to leetcode but easy problems).
Then there were 3 interviews that lasted 1 hour each.
