Want A Job At Canonical? Write A 5000 Word Essay?!?

We all love canonical here and some us love them so much we want to work for them but they've got to filter out some applicants by wasting as much of there time as possible, so why not give them a 50 word written interview so they just leave instead.

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[The_Wandering_Nerd]

HR guy: "Okay, here is a list of interview questions you can use when interviewing candidates; feel free to pick 5-10 questions that are relevant to the job description for the position you're hiring for and--"
Canonical hiring manager: "Send them in an email and make the candidate answer all of them?"
HR guy: "Well, not exactly... HR has to read all of those emails and make decisions based on all their responses--"
Canonical hiring manager: "Great idea! The more data we have on a candidate, the better!"
HR guy: "We're hiring engineers, not novelists! Wouldn't code samples or a portfolio be--"
Canonical hiring manager: "Can't hear you over the sound of all the keyboards clacking all over the world from software devs who are telling us their life stories as we speak!"
HR guy: "Sigh... I wonder if Red Hat needs an HR guy..."

[jamis]

I recently went through this process and after all of it, over 2 months, I was told they are going in a different direction. I completely respect that and wish the company the best. I asked for feedback but never received any. I have a TBI and ADHD. The cognative ability testing was extremely frustrating. Tests where I am asked to complete things quickly and accurately automatically puts my brain into panic mode and it is extremely difficult to focus. I was working on this while my kids were home on a break from school which only added stress. Prior to taking the aptitude test, I read the documentation provided and it explicitly states those with ADHD, dyslexia, autism, or other examples of neurodivergence will not be adequately assessed by this testing method. I brought this up to my contact and he said it is merely a requirement and won't be used in my assessment. My immediate thought was, why even do it then? We continued talking afterward, I met with others, had technical testing, etc. all of which went well. In the end I think the choice was based on compensation. It's just frustrating to go through so much and not receive feedback. I think the idea behind these steps is a good one, a company wants to ensure whomever is deemed a candidate for a position fits within the culture and ethos of the company. The downside is, the way it is being done creates a LOT of work for those reviewing and those applying. My experience with Canonical over the years has shown something a lot of people I think are realizing. The company, the senior leadership, and the products all have good ideas and intentions. The actual implementations and those applying them are not always equipped as they should be, are asked to do much more than the intial request, or just have things muddied up in the path from the top down. I hope the growth period Canonical is in helps to settle things down and refocus efforts.

[takennmc]

Honestly imagine being the guy who has to read all those essays, which they probably won't read it all anyway

[MuringoG]

I'm so happy to hear someone speak my mind. I went through the initial process which is so long and exhausting. It was a managerial position and kept wondering who's this who remembers so much about their high school??? Having an MSc, plus a number of certs, I hardly remember my undergrad subjects-lol! honestly felt like it was a total waste of time. I have this theory though- that they use most of the essays to pick engineers' brains and use it to improve their products! Well, it's free R&D for them.🤷‍♀

[majoryoshi]

I applied to canonical and was asked to send an essay of similar length to this. Furthermore, that is extremely copy/paste, regardless of what team you apply for. I said in my application that I was in college, yet they ask when I completed college for the "essay". Needless to say, I decided it wasn't worth my time or their time.

[matthiasbenaets]

Bloated job application form ;') . Less is more, not more is better.

[mikesulsenti]

I applied to Canonical late last year and I had the same experience but not for a developer position, but for a senior sysadmin support position (Ubuntu, MAAS, Juju, etc). Same questions essentially, I submitted a several page paper. I doubt they even read it cause they bumped me to the next tier the next morning. They then had 2 time sensitive aptitude tests that I passed, but they were silly quick reaction or quick solution games. If you were slow to respond to the questions designed to trip you up, you lost major points. If you were wrong, you lost points. Unnecessarily stressful. I didn't have an issue with it but I know a lot of very smart people who wouldn't do well on this type of speed test. After that I got pretty far along in the process, which was a 4 month process at that point and several interviews. They didn't pick me for the position and they wouldn't tell me why or provide feedback. One of the longest and most frustrating interview experiences to date. I still can not believe they asked me about my entire High School career.

[mrsansiverius]

"Everyone watching this channel loves Canonical"
Well, uh, you see...

[paulvorderegger]

If even their job application is bloated, how bloated will their software be?

[Andrey-rcwp]

I remember spending out around 200 applications for an accounting position. Man was that degrading. Not only that, having to go through indeed and do basic math just to have my resume sent out was a big no for me. I ended up just emailing hiring managers directly. Worked pretty well actually.

[ES-cfph]

This is just hilarious. A perfect example for insanity of the job market.

[UKprl]

Could anyone who was working at Canonical developing the 2004 release 4.10 apply for their own post using this process and pass this written stage, I wonder?

[fighiblue]

Although I had a similar experience, my interview gone a little bit different. I had to answer similar question (waaay less, like about 8 or 10) and the aptitude and personality tests. Overall it was a long process but I get the job, once you talk with humans they are cool. I don't know why the interview process is stupidity long but I think this is a feeling shared also internally

[a_ij]

This is Canonicals way of making sure they hire people that can actually sustain the stress level that working on their bloated software provides.

[cliffbrown]

I received the list of questions for my Written Interview a day ago. I was shocked! As Brodie mentions, there are embodies sub-questions within each bulleted question. The total # of questions is close to 30. This is for an SDR Team Manager role. In the past, I have gone through interviews that require a psych assessment and don't have a problem with them. I have also been asked to put together a "final presentation" in the form of a PowerPoint. I didn't mind that either. But this situation and hiring practice with Canonical seems ludicrous!!!! You are expected to invest a LOT of time in these essay questions only to get you to the interview rounds! And with ZERO guarantees! So, I emailed the recruiter back and offered to submit the questions IF she could FIRST answer some of MY questions. In the job post, there are ZERO mentions of compensation, base salary, commissions, splits, benefits, etc. Only mentions a few perks that seem ridiculous and that I could care less about. So, I want them to answer ME first about what I can expect (or at least a range) for how much this role pays. Show me the finish line and what it's worth for me to do hours/days worth of dissertation writing before I start writing it. If they are unwilling to answer a few of MY easy questions, why would I answer all of their extremely detailed ones?

[NishantExplains]

I am subscribing you for this video. I got the same interview and will be writing back for it. However, this video shown me that it's not just me getting this type of email.

[CodeWithGBMags]

Damn! I wish I had watched this video before writing an answer to those questions.

[andrewstewartjacobs]

I think the word 'joint' is apt. Because the person who thought this up certainly needs one, and I am not talking about beef.

[ItsHimItsThatGuy]

My neighbor used to work for Canonical as a lead technical writer. I’ll have to ask him about this lol

[riffdr]

I withdrew my application the moment I got their first email. Their entire recruitment process seems to have been crafted by too many unsynced people along the years. It is as if nobody could reach an agreement on what the process should be like and every person has left their own ideas and stages. Instead of having a streamlined recruitment process, they have ended up with something close to a college entrance application. For sure it will keep putting off many capable potential candidates.