This was me this week:

Thank you for applying for a position as a Cloud Field Engineer - Americas (Remote) at Canonical!

I am the hiring lead for it and will steer you through the process. I have reviewed your resume and moved you forward.

The hiring process has several stages:

initial resume screening (done)
written submission (this stage)
standardised aptitude and personality tests
Face-to-face Meet & Greet interview
Online 15min Linux/Networking quiz
Online 2hr Python Coding test
Live 1hr Linux Troubleshooting interview
Talent Interview (HR team)
Hiring Manager interview, Hiring Lead interview
If we think you are a fantastic fit for Canonical then we will find you the best role for you at the company. We are committed to run a smooth and fast hiring process, ideally reaching an offer in 2 weeks time.

The current stage is your written submission.

Consider this to be a written interview, and a prepared statement for interviewers to read in advance of your meeting to cover your interests, priorities, experience and ambition. Please answer the following in a PDF document:

Education

How would you describe your high school interests in mathematics, physical sciences and computing? In these subjects, which were your strengths and what were your most enjoyable activities? How did you rank, competitively, in these subjects?
What did you do after high school? Why did you choose that?
Which course and university did you choose, and why?
Which university courses did you enjoy the most, and which ones did you perform best at? How did you rank in your degree?
Outside of degree requirements, what were your interests and where did you spend most of your time?
During your time at high school and university, what did you achieve that you consider to be exceptional?
Experience

What kinds of software projects have you worked on before? Which development environments, languages, databases?
How extensive is your experience of Python software engineering? How do you test Python applications? Outline the applications that you have led in Python, and your takeaways from that experience.
How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of Linux is, from the kernel up? How have you gained this knowledge?
How comprehensive would you say your knowledge of networking is? How have you gained this knowledge?
Describe your experience with private and/or public cloud technologies (Openstack, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.).
What is the next technology you want to learn about, and why ? How do you plan on learning it ?
Do you have experience with customer-facing roles ?
Outline your software documentation experience.
Context

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 it that you think is risky or unappealing?
Who do you see as competitors to Canonical, and in what ways do you think Canonical needs to change in order to be a more effective competitor to them?
What do you see as the current dynamics in the cloud software industry that are favourable to Canonical? Which are unfavourable?
Why do you most want to work for Canonical?
Which sorts of Canonical products and services would you most like to work on?
Please take the opportunity to re-read your submission and make sure you have put your best case of exceptional ability forward.

Please make your submission as a PDF at the URL given below. I have set the system to hide your name and details from me, please do not put identifying details in the submission itself.

Thank you! I look forward to reading your answers, and perhaps meeting later in the process.

Camille

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My reply: I got a rejection letter from greenhouse within about an hour.

This is ridiculous. Why do I care who your competitors are? Hint: it’s not my job to care. What dynamics in the cloud computing industry are favorable to Canonical and unfavorable? Don’t you pay your marketing department for these answers?

I was laid off, I am looking for a fulfilling career. I need a job and I bring to the table a skillset spanning my entire adult life. One that fits the criteria of what you posted about.

I want to pay my bills and enjoy what I do for work. A simple transaction. I bring to the table something to help push the company’s agenda forward that you need (and are posting about for a job). You, in turn, help me keep my family fed and my bills paid. My past is my past outside of the relevant work experience and credentials necessary to do the job you are posting about. The rest is simply put, none of your business. I’m sure my 11th grade chemistry teacher would agree.

I don’t need to write a college admission application essay on why I want to work here.

High school was 25 years ago and irrelevant. Do you actually think you’re going to pick me on whether or not I participated in the science bowl or what my score was in an AP Biology class?

I’ve been using Linux for 25 years, supporting Software as a service on linux-based servers for almost that long. I’ve worked at ISPs hosting e-mail and web servers, to supporting a geographically low-latent software application supporting Fortune 500 companies so they can figure out how many of their website visitors are actually buying things and in turn adding millions of dollars to their bottom line. I’ve moved data centers and been on teams where I was directly responsible for portions of the effort to migrate them to the cloud. All of this is demonstrable and verifiable.

If you are interested in the relevant experience and credentials I posses that qualifies me for the job, OK. But I won’t be answering any of the rest of below that is irrelevant to the application process.