Life at Canonical: Freyja Cooper’s perspective as a new joiner in Communications

Canonical has developed a unique onboarding process that enables new hires to quickly settle and establish themselves in our globally distributed environment. In this series, we interview team members who joined the company within the last year to ask them about their experience so far. In an earlier article, we heard from Amy Song, a new joiner in our Customer Success team. For this edition, we will be hearing from Freyja Cooper, a content specialist in our Communications team. 

Regardless of  level or role, new joiners are invited to attend a 3 day induction sprint during their first few months, as part of their onboarding plan. These are held in exciting locations around the world and fully funded by Canonical. New joiners attend a series of presentation style talks delivered by senior leaders on their functions and vision to help you understand how everything at Canonical fits together. They also get to engage in some fun team building activities whilst getting to know other new colleagues from across the business. One of the highlights is also learning about the many open source technologies that we develop. It is a great way to gain a holistic understanding of the whole business. 

Let’s hear about Freyja’s experience. 

Meet Freyja Cooper

Freyja joined Canonical’s Communications Team in November 2023. As a Content Specialist, Freyja is responsible for writing compelling content that amplifies Canonical’s mission, and sheds light on the benefits we deliver for end users and customers alike. Freyja is also a key contact for anyone at Canonical who wants to improve their writing skills; she ensures we uphold high standards of excellence when it comes to our content. 

Freyja attended her induction sprint earlier this year. Since then, she’s been present at four internal company sprints completely sponsored by Canonical – one in Vancouver, two in Madrid and one in The Hague. 

How would you describe your onboarding and the first few months at Canonical?
Intense. There was a lot to learn, a lot of people to meet, and a lot more calls than I was used to. But at the same time, it was rewarding. I was able to very quickly get stuck into and take ownership of my own projects, and it felt great being able to make a meaningful contribution even from an early stage.

What was the induction sprint like? 
It was a ton of fun. It was certainly useful learning more about the organization and its different functions. But most of all, it was great having a chance to meet and spend time with the other new joiners, especially those from teams I wouldn’t normally interact with in my day-to-day. It can be a little intimidating meeting so many tremendously talented people, but once you get chatting it quickly becomes clear that everyone is very friendly and down to earth.

What aspect of your role excites you the most? 
I love having the opportunity to help shape Canonical’s content strategy and product messaging. I spent a long time as a freelancer, and my role was usually just to write whatever piece of content my client requested. I’m really enjoying being part of the decision-making process that determines what gets written.

I’m also lucky enough to have Data and AI as the primary portfolio area I develop a content strategy for. Getting a front row seat to all of the innovation happening in that sector right now is fantastic.

Is this your first remote job? How do you feel about remote work?
I worked in an office job for one year when I was fresh out of university, and it was not for me. Since then, I’ve always worked from home. Now that I’ve seen the light, I wouldn’t even consider an office role. As a neurodivergent individual, I cannot put into words how valuable it is to me to be able to work in my own, comfortable space. Not to mention that avoiding a long commute is like getting hours of my life – and a good bit of my income – back.

What do you advise readers considering a career at Canonical? 
Apply if you are truly passionate about what you do and about learning. Working at Canonical will push you to see things from a new perspective and solve very tough problems.  You’ll likely find yourself outside of your comfort zone. But if you’re up to the challenge, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from some of the most incredibly talented people in the industry.

Join the team 

Canonical puts a great effort on employee onboarding to ensure all new joiners feel welcome and engaged. In the next article of this series, we’ll explore another story. In the meantime, we encourage you to browse current openings, find the most interesting role for you and apply. Canonical’s team will make sure you receive all that you need to excel at your new role! 

More in this series:

Life at Canonical: Amy Song shares her experience as a new joiner in Customer Success