Canonical's data engineer interviews can combine long written screening, a short casual call, and technical rounds that go deep on operating system and database internals. Two candidates reported no offer.
$122K
Avg. Base Comp
$157K
Avg. Total Comp
Not reported
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Canonical's data engineer process, as two candidates describe it, begins with written work before any live conversation. A junior candidate described an application evaluation committee, a very long written interview of roughly 40 to 60 questions, a psychotechnique test, and an easy online technical test that allowed internet resources. That candidate put the total effort at around 8 hours, with the written portion taking the most time. Many questions were personal or outside the job's scope, while the one technical-style prompt they recalled asked about a data project they were most proud of and why.
The other candidate described a different emphasis. They submitted an essay with technical questions, had a short casual call with a software engineer that touched on team culture, and then faced two technical rounds. Operating system and database internals were the main pressure point, and the questions went beyond definitions into how the mechanisms actually work. Behavioral questions were mixed into those technical rounds, including a request to walk through a data pipeline the candidate had built.
Both candidates reported no offer and no meaningful feedback, so the evidence is limited to these two accounts. The practical takeaway is to prepare on two fronts. First, treat the written stage seriously: write clear, specific answers and have a data project story ready. Second, review how operating systems and databases work under the hood, and be ready to explain one pipeline end to end, including design choices, while switching quickly between technical and behavioral questions.
Synthesized from 2 candidate reports by our editorial team.
Had an interview recently?
Share your experience. Unlock the full guide.
Real interview reports from people who went through the Canonical process.
Share your own interview experience to unlock all reports, or subscribe for full access.
Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Canonical
How would you improve Google Maps?
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Justify a Neural Network | |
| Marketing Channel Metrics | |
| Find Duplicate Numbers in a List | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| Swap Variables | |
| Portfolio Platform Architecture | |
| Slow SQL Query | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Diagnosing Query Speed Degradation | |
| Deciding Between Solutions | |
| Safe Deployments | |
| Search Timeout | |
| Cloud-Agnostic Deployments | |
| Azure Kubernetes Infrastructure | |
| Repository Policy Enforcement | |
| Decreasing Tech Debt | |
| Slow OLAP Aggregations | |
| Debug Marriage Data | |
| Empty Neighborhoods | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Longest Streak Users | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Last Transaction | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| Subscription Overlap |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Both candidates report a written stage before speaking with anyone. One describes a long form of roughly 40 to 60 questions, many of them personal or outside the role. The other describes an essay with technical questions. Expect to spend real time here and to give specific answers.
The junior candidate reports a psychotechnique test that seemed to measure quick decision-making, followed by an easy technical test on a website that allowed internet resources. This may not apply to every role or level, since the other candidate did not mention these steps.
The other candidate reports a short, casual call with a software engineer. Questions were light and a fair amount of time went to team culture. It may be a relaxed step compared with what followed, but one account is not enough to say how it works generally.
The other candidate describes two technical rounds that were heavy on operating system and database internals, with detailed questions on how mechanisms work. Behavioral questions, including a walkthrough of a pipeline they built, came up inside those same rounds. Prepare specific design-choice explanations.
