Canonical
Canonical interview process explained: the long written application, psychometric and technical assessments and multi-round interviews for remote roles, with FAQs.
- 859 open jobs
- 2004 founded
- London headquarters
About Canonical
Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu, the most widely used Linux distribution on cloud servers, developer desktops and IoT devices. It is privately held, headquartered in London, and fully remote, with well over a thousand employees spread across more than 70 countries, including a large and growing number in India. Its products include Ubuntu Pro, Juju, MicroK8s, Snapcraft, LXD, MAAS and OpenStack and Kubernetes distributions used by cloud providers and enterprises.
Because every role is remote, Canonical hires Indian candidates for the same positions it fills anywhere else: software engineers across Python, Go, C, Rust and web stacks, Linux kernel and systems engineers, security and site reliability engineers, technical support, solutions and field engineers, product managers, and business roles in sales, marketing, finance and HR. It also runs a large graduate and early-career pipeline.
The company is known for one of the most unusual hiring processes in tech. It weighs academic performance from school onwards, asks for long written answers, and runs many interview rounds. It looks for exceptional academic records, genuine open-source interest, clear writing and the self-discipline to work remotely.
Canonical hiring process
Canonical's process is long, deliberately so, and identical worldwide. Expect it to take one to three months. The steps below describe the flow as it runs in 2025-26.
1. Written application
The application form asks for detailed written answers: your school-leaving and university results and ranking, your proudest academic and professional achievements, how you learned to code, your open-source contributions, and why you want to work at Canonical. Vague or short answers are the most common reason for rejection at this stage.
2. Hiring lead review and initial interview
A hiring lead reads your application in full and, if shortlisted, holds a first video interview to walk through your background and written answers in depth. Be ready to justify every claim you made.
3. Psychometric and cognitive assessments
Most candidates complete an online personality questionnaire and a timed reasoning or cognitive ability test. Some tracks add a written exercise, a technical questionnaire or a take-home assignment relevant to the role.
4. Technical interviews
Two to four interviews with engineers and senior technical staff covering Linux internals, programming in your primary language, system design and problem solving. Deep familiarity with Ubuntu, packaging, networking and cloud concepts is tested for engineering roles; non-technical roles get domain-specific case interviews instead.
5. Senior leadership and cross-functional interviews
Further conversations with directors, peers from other teams and sometimes the founder's office. These test culture fit, communication, remote-work discipline and leadership potential. Total interviews can reach eight or more.
6. Offer
Successful candidates receive an offer benchmarked to a global band for the role and their location. Background checks and equipment shipping follow, and onboarding is fully remote with an in-person sprint held periodically in a different city.
Canonical interview rounds
The number of rounds varies by role but is high compared with most companies. The stages below are representative for an engineering role.
Round 1: Written application review
Not an interview, but the most selective filter. Reviewers score academic performance, clarity of writing and evidence of exceptional achievement.
- Class 10, Class 12 and university marks and rankings
- Open-source or side projects with links
- Why Canonical and why remote work suits you
Round 2: Hiring lead interview
A 45 to 60 minute video call reviewing your background and motivation.
- Walk through your academic history and choices
- Your most significant technical accomplishment
- How you learn and stay productive without an office
Round 3: Assessments
An online personality questionnaire and a timed cognitive test; some roles add a take-home or written exercise.
- Numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning under time pressure
- Behavioural preferences questionnaire
- A technical questionnaire or coding assignment
Round 4: Technical interviews
Two to four 45 to 60 minute interviews with engineers.
- Linux internals: processes, file systems, systemd, packaging and debugging
- Programming problems in Python, Go, C or Rust and code review of your assignment
- Networking, containers, Kubernetes and cloud architecture
- System design with a focus on reliability and security
Round 5: Leadership and culture interviews
Two or three conversations with senior leaders and peers.
- How you handle disagreement in written, asynchronous discussions
- Your views on open source and the Ubuntu community
- Long-term goals and interest in growing into leadership
Canonical salaries
| Designation | Average salary |
|---|---|
Data Analyst Experience: 1 - 4 years yrs |
₹ 9 Lakhs /year Typical range ₹6 L – ₹12 L/yr |
Technical Lead Experience: 6 - 10 years yrs |
₹ 27.5 Lakhs /year Typical range ₹20 L – ₹35 L/yr |
Senior Software Engineer Experience: 3 - 6 years yrs |
₹ 17 Lakhs /year Typical range ₹12 L – ₹22 L/yr |
Software Engineer Experience: 0 - 2 years yrs |
₹ 6.8 Lakhs /year Typical range ₹4.5 L – ₹9 L/yr |
Figures are estimates based on typical market ranges for this role and sector, not company-published pay. Actual offers vary by location, skills and negotiation.
Canonical interview questions
Question banks most relevant to roles at Canonical, with model answers.
Canonical interview FAQs
Q1How many rounds does the Canonical interview process have?
Many. After the long written application there is a hiring lead interview, online psychometric and cognitive assessments, two to four technical interviews and two or three leadership and culture conversations, so six to ten interactions in total. The process commonly takes one to three months, and candidates should expect gaps of a week or two between stages.
Q2Why does Canonical ask about school and university marks?
Canonical states openly that it looks for people who have been exceptional throughout their education, and it treats consistent academic excellence as evidence of discipline and ability. Answer these questions honestly and precisely, giving actual percentages, grades or rankings, and add context such as scholarships, competitions or top-of-class positions. Leaving them blank or vague usually ends the application.
Q3Why do you want to work at Canonical?
Be specific about Ubuntu and open source: how you have used Ubuntu or contributed upstream, which Canonical products interest you and why, and what you value about remote, globally distributed work. Interviewers read for genuine familiarity, so mention concrete tools such as snaps, LXD or Juju, and connect them to a problem you want to help solve.
Q4Explain what happens when you run a command in a Linux terminal.
Describe the shell parsing the input, expanding variables and globs, searching PATH for the executable, forking a child process, the child calling exec to load the program, the kernel setting up memory and file descriptors, the program running and writing to stdout, and the shell waiting for the exit status. Mention built-ins that do not fork and how pipes and redirection change file descriptors.
Q5How do you stay productive and communicate in a fully remote team?
Give practical habits: a written daily plan, clear asynchronous updates in text, over-communicating status and blockers, documenting decisions, and respecting time zones with scheduled overlap. Add an example of a remote project or open-source collaboration where written communication mattered, because Canonical relies heavily on writing rather than meetings.
Q6What salary does Canonical offer in India and who is eligible?
Canonical pays on global bands adjusted for location, so Indian engineers typically earn well above local IT services levels, with graduate roles starting in the upper single-digit to low double-digit lakhs and experienced engineers considerably higher. Eligibility is not tied to a specific degree, but the company expects an outstanding academic record, strong Linux and programming skills and excellent written English.
Quick facts about Canonical
- How do I apply for a job at Canonical?
- Open roles are listed on the company's own careers page: https://careers.canonical.com/.
- How many people work at Canonical?
- Canonical employs approximately Approx. 2,000. Headcount figures move over time and are indicative.
- Is Canonical a public or private company?
- Ownership: Private.
- Who founded Canonical?
- Canonical was founded by Mark Shuttleworth.
859 open jobs at Canonical
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