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.
Being in an active job search I experienced some pretty stupid and irrelevant hiring processes, but NONE of them are at the level of the hiring process for this company.
The entire process is time wasting and I felt that I could've spent my time applying to 50 more companies in the time that is required to apply to this company.
First you get essay questions from your high school. Yes high school! It doesn't matter you're a Bachelor or you have a Master Degree from an university. The high school math grade from 30+ years ago is really important to this company. It feels like someone from there didn't had an enjoyable time in high school and is still suffering.
Who in his right mind remembers grades from high school or feel it is relevant the hobbies you had 30 years ago. People evolve and matures! Who care that in high school I had a hobby as chemistry and now I'm working in leadership position in SW Development?
Don't bother waste your time with this interview process. It looks like it was developed by someone who would have a lot to improve from some therapy hours.
Preguntas de entrevista [6]
Pregunta 1
At high school or university, how did you fare in mathematics and physical sciences? Which were your strongest subjects in the hard sciences, and how did you rank in your class?
Please state your high school graduation results or university entrance results, along with the system used. For example, in the US, you might give your SAT or ACT scores. In Germany, you might give your scores 1-5.
How did you rank competitively in university? Which were your strongest courses, and which did you enjoy the most?
At high school or university, what leadership roles did you take on?
At high school or university, describe your achievements that were considered exceptional by colleagues and staff.
Why do you want to work for Canonical?
Which other companies are building the sort of products you would like to work on?
What do you think is the biggest opportunity for Canonical?
Who do you think are key competitors to Canonical? How do you think Canonical should plan to win that race?
Me postulé en línea. Acudí a una entrevista en Canonical
Entrevista
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
Preguntas de entrevista [1]
Pregunta 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.
Preguntas de entrevista [1]
Pregunta 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?"