Software Engineer Python applicants have rated the interview process at Canonical with 3.5 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 18% positive. To compare, the company-average is 14.9% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Software Engineer Python roles take an average of 70 days to get hired, when considering 17 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Canonical overall takes an average of 51 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Canonical as a Software Engineer Python according to 17 Glassdoor interviews include:
Skills test: 30%
Personality test: 21%
Background check: 12%
IQ intelligence test: 12%
One on one interview: 9%
Phone interview: 6%
Other: 6%
Group panel interview: 3%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Canonical in Dec 2024
Interview
I was sent an email with 30 questions to answer and send back within 2 weeks. At first I wasn't sure if it was scam or not because through the two steps of this process no human bothered to talk to me. This stage took me 3 hours to answer all the questions. They weren't one word answer questions, they required multiple sentences and was a large time commitment. Then I was sent a link to do a Python skill test through a 3rd party. Essentially hours after the skill test I was immediately rejected. No feedback or explanation other than they receive 80,000+ applicants per posting. Well they do a bad job at screening then I guess.
What a waste of my time. I thought this might be worth the time investment, but no. I got an email to start this process for another role I applied to at the company and I am just not going to put the time into it. They didn't invest any time into me in the process so why do they deserve hours of my time for free? What a weird system.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Who do you think are key competitors to Canonical? How do you think Canonical should plan to win that race?
Still in the interview process and I would say it look normal process for now , I just submit the psychometric assessment and still waiting for the next stages of this process
I applied online. I interviewed at Canonical (New York, NY) in May 2026
Interview
Really long interview process - OA, Written interview, 3 technical rounds, then 3 behavioral rounds. Then a generic rejection email. The interviews were - Linux System Skills, Software Architecture, Python Pair Programming. The interviewers were really nice.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
For Software Architecture, expect system design questions, how you think about distributed systems, trade-offs in architecture decisions. Linux system skills - should have clear Linux knowledge: Kernel and shell - description, Foo.sh permission denied error when running (./foo.sh) what to do to fix it, How ssh works, Container and VM - difference, OpenStack
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?