I recently completed Canonical's application process for an Enterprise Project Manager role. The application itself was a significant time suck, but what I found most troubling were questions about high school mathematics and language performances, including requests to justify answers with standardised test scores and academic rankings.
High school performance has nothing to do with professional aptitude. Many talented, capable people have disrupted educations, working multiple jobs to get through college, raising families while studying, or coming from underprivileged backgrounds. GPA and high school test scores do not reflect intelligence or ability. They reflect circumstances.
These questions are discriminatory in their impact, even if unintentional. We are years past COVID, which exposed every inequality in our education system. For a company that prides itself on global diversity and inclusion, these questions send the opposite message.
J'ai postulé en ligne. Le processus a pris 4 mois. J'ai passé un entretien chez Canonical
Entretien
I went through a recruitment process that lasted over 4 months, involving several rounds of interviews and more than twenty hours of my precious time. It was an extremely heavy process and unfortunately, much of it felt unnecessarily complex and, at times, pointless, especially for a senior level position.
Roughly half of the interviews added little to no value, with repetitive questions and vague objectives. Several interviewers repeatedly mentioned that the company receives hundreds of thousands of applications, which felt more like a way to remind you of how replaceable you are than to foster meaningful dialogue. This approach came across as discouraging and out of touch with a respectful candidate experience.
Some of the tests were excessively time-consuming and offered little relevance or insight for the level of seniority expected.
After reading other reviews, I realized my experience wasn’t unique. In hindsight, not being selected may have been for the best. Had I read those reviews beforehand, I likely would not have applied at all. A solid recruitment process should be rooted in transparency, mutual respect, and efficient, purposeful evaluation not in volume and opacity.
J'ai postulé en ligne. J'ai passé un entretien chez Canonical
Entretien
The interview process was thorough, but not overwhelming or too long. They focused on skills and experience, rather than asking trick questions. Interviewer was warm and friendly, I enjoyed the experience
Questions d'entretien [1]
Question 1
Tell us about the most impactful project you’ve handled
Just after applying for a role, they send you an email with lots of questions to complete a written submissions (when I say a lot of questions, I mean 6 sections with at least 5 questions each). They ask you not to use any AI or assistant to make it true and honest. I spent around 1 hour to answer every question. All to get an rejection "no-reply" email on the next day without any detailed feedback on why I was rejected.
Questions d'entretien [1]
Question 1
6 categories:
Engineering experience (7 questions, like "Describe your experience with enterprise infrastructure and application management, either as a user running enterprise operations, or as a vendor targeting the enterprise market").
Management experience (4 questions like "Describe the daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly habits you expect in a well-run software engineering team, for individuals and the team").
Industry leadership experience (4 questions like "Describe your experience using content to generate interest in your product")
Canonical context (5 questions like "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? Are there any elements of the company goals that you are unsure about?")
Education (9 questions like "Can you make a case that you are in the top 5% in your academic year, or top 1%, or even higher? If so, please outline that case. Make reference where possible to standardised testing results at regional or national level, or university entrance results. Please explain any specific grading system used").
Domain-specific questions (10 domains, each one with specific questions, like "AI/ML & MLOps - Describe where you see the market for AI/ML & MLOps going over the next 5 years?"