Canonical Software Engineer interview experience

The initial written interview, even though it was a lot of work, gave me something substantial to talk through later, and it genuinely helped me frame my conversations. As I moved closer to the HR “talent team” interview and then a final meeting with the hiring lead, though, things took an unexpected turn.

Repeatedly, the conversation came back to lowering my expected salary. I had already anchored at the low end for IT roles in my country, and even that was treated as too high. I wasn’t ready to go lower, and the final signal suggested that my refusal—or inability—to accept a figure that