Uber Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Uber in September 2016.

Interview

I sent an application. Received an email a couple of days after and the recruiter said they'll be conducting an online interview. The recruiter was very responsive to my questions. I would send an email and receive a response within 24 hours. Although in the end I did not receive an offer, I had a positive interview experience with Uber. I will try again next time.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at Uber (New York, NY) in December 2013.

Interview

I applied for the Community Manager position via Uber's website. I received an email from a recruiter a few days later to set up a phone interview. The phone interview was with that same recruiter. She went over my resume, asked me what I knew about Uber, asked me if I knew about any of their recent promotions etc.

She closed the call by saying she would forward me a "homework assignment" where I was asked to answer customer inquiries in email and Twitter formats. The assignment also provided some metrics that I was asked to analyze regarding promotions. I was given 2 days to submit the assignment.

The recruiter followed up with me almost immediately to set up a Skype interview with one of the Community Managers in NYC. Unfortunately, Skype didn't work, so it was another phone interview, very similar to the first one. He indicated that he'd want me to do another round of interviews and would be in touch. This was around the holidays, so after about 2 weeks of not hearing back, I reached out to the recruiter and then heard back from the NY team to set up an in-person interview.

The in-person interview round was about 3 hours long and I met with 4 or 5 people. During this process, they talked a LOT about work-life balance. Basically, there is none and they wanted to make sure I'd be okay with that. I think this is where the process went downhill, as I was not willing to commit to a position that required 12 hour days plus weekends and holidays. They also talked a lot about how Uber was their family and they had lost touch with all non-Uber friends. That's okay for some people, but not for me.

I left the interview seriously doubting if I'd want to accept an offer. I'm sure they picked up on this as I was ultimately not offered a job. But the thing that really irked me was that the rejection came in the form of a canned email from noreply@uber.com. The rest of the process had been so personable and welcoming, I was disappointed to not receive a nicer, "no thank you." This definitely left a bad taste in my mouth when I think about the company.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Uber (Chicago, IL) in January 2014.

Interview

I'd like to start by saying I am writing this review a few weeks after my process ended. I wanted to let everything settle and see how I felt.

Initial phone screen interview with HR was followed by a short project. The project asked me to respond to a few emails and tweets and then come up with some creative marketing ideas and write a few blog post. A Skype interview with a current community manager to review the project followed.

I was then asked to come for an in-person interview. I first was given 30 min to do a small project based on an app of my choice. I then met with 10 people (in groups of 2 or 3) over the span of a couple hours and was sent on my way.

A couple of days after the in-person, I was email with yet another project. This one was more extensive. I had a week to promote and sign up as many new riders as possible using a personalized promo code provided by Uber. I spent a lot of time and put a lot of effort into this project. I won't share my ideas/techniques here.

I was then sent an email requesting another Skype interview, this time with the regional manager. He seemed extremely dis-interested in speaking with me. The interview lasted a mere 15 minutes. He asked what concerns I had about the job. I thought this was going to be to discuss the previous week long project. When I brought it up he said he had no questions. I was never given any type of feedback on the project at all. I asked multiple folks (from HR to community managers) for their thoughts and some numeric results, but was never given any.

After that Sykpe interview I waited a week without hearing anything. Through the process I had spoken to or been emailed by 1 person from HR, 4 different community managers and the regional manager. It wasn't clear as to who was my main contact. I reached out to one of the community managers and he said the "appropriate person" would reach out soon. The original HR women emailed me a day later saying that her first email must not have been sent properly, thanking me for my time, but that they had opted to go with another candidate.

Now at first I wasn't pleased. I had put a lot of time and effort into all the projects and interviews. All signs pointed to this panning out. But in retrospective I feel totally different. They kept saying Uber was a lifestyle. I was going to be moving to a new city. If I was going to move, I would want/need time to explore and learn my new city. The "Uber lifestyle" literally is a lifestyle. I asked about time to go to the gym and one guy said he schedules in an hour a day. One person mentioned there were in the office at 8 am, home by 7 pm (cause they had a dog) and back online (with the rest of the team) until almost midnight. If you're looking for a life-consuming job then this is for you. Some mentioned 50 - 60 - 70 - even 80+ hour work weeks.

In the end it wasn't for me and my search continues.

Office Culture: I was not given a tour of the office during my in person. I usually ask for a tour but they were moving offices in a few weeks and it would be a totally new space anyway. But the office was cluttered.

People: Most of the folks were very nice. Very friendly and talkative. I saw myself working with those type of people.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Uber.

Interview

I applied online and heard back from a recruiter about 3 weeks later. The recruiter was very nice, and sent me a Creative Assignment the next day. Heads up: the creative assignment takes a loooong time to complete if you really work at it. I thought it would take 30 to 45 minutes and I spent about 4 hours plus on it.

After that, I had a Skype interview with a Community Manager. The interview was fine — no unexpected questions — but he didn't once mention the creative assignment that I worked so hard on, nor did it seem like he even touched my resume or cover letter. He was also have tech issues (and kept blaming them on me, which was weird).

I do really appreciate that he did warn me that this job isn't for everyone. The hours often exceeded 100 hours per week, and he said you should plan on working every night and every weekend. That seemed really intense — I couldn't imagine spending 12+ hours a day every single day at a job like this, so this gig ended up not being for me. Although if you're the kind of person that really JUST likes to work, go for it.

He also made it sound like this job was all about customer service, and way less about the fun event planning and marketing events that the creative assignment made it seem like.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Uber (Chicago, IL) in December 2013.

Interview

I started by sending in my resume and cover letter. A bit later I received an email from the recruiter asking me to fill out a lengthy creative assignment. The biggest problem was the assignment was given to me the day before Thanksgiving and was due that Friday. Needless to say, I was working while in the airport. I was contacted the same day I turned in the assignment and was asked to have a Skype interview, on Sunday. I then came in the next day for an in-person interview and completed an assignment that required making up a new company with an app, you have 30 mins to complete it. (be sure to know KPI) I then was interviewed by three groups of employees which took only a few hours. All of the employees were easy to talk to but be ready to make up hard numbers (growth, expenses, etc.) about your new company. Over the next day I had two follow up phone interviews. I was given an offer on a Thursday afternoon and they wanted my answer by the next day. Things move very fast, which is great, but they leave little time for personal consideration of the position.

Interview Questions

Reasons for Declining

The work/life balance is nonexistent. This life was not for me at all. They work every weekend and weeknight and are proud of the family culture they have created, but I already have a family of my own that I very much like. If you are looking for a culture where your work is your life, Uber would be great for you. There is amazing opportunity there, but not worth the sacrifices.

Application

I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Uber.

Interview

This was a very in depth, rigorous interview process. I submitted a cover letter and resume through their website and heard from them to set up an initial phone screening a week later. The phone screening was great to learn a little bit more about what exactly they were looking for and for me to share my background. General questions were asked; what do you currently do, what have you done that relates, how much are you looking to make, ect.

I was then informed that I would be sent a pdf of the next phase of the interview. This was a "homework assignment" which basically outlined the essential job functions. It was lengthy but really gave me a good understanding of what I would be doing in this roll. I had a few days to complete this.

I then heard from the recruiter two weeks later and was invited to do a one on one interview with the General Manager. This was about a 45 minute conversation with questions geared towards getting to know me as a person, my work ethic, personality, reactions ect. (I think). The GM informed me that I would be contacted for the final step.

A few days later I was invited to come in to do a 20 minute presentation and one on one interviews with the team and then meet the team for hours'devours. This was a great way to see if I would fit in and work well with the team.

Overall, the interview process took about two months from the time I submitted my resume to the offer phone call. I was able to show how badly I wanted to be a part of this company and see what the day to day would entail.

Interview Questions

Negotiation

No Negotiation

Application

I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Uber in September 2013.

Interview

I applied online and received an email about three days later from the recruiter to set up a quick phone call. I spoke with the recruiter for about 15 minutes and she forwarded the Creative Assignment shortly thereafter. If this is something you're passionate about, seriously put your all into the assignment - I actually had fun doing it. I emailed my assignment and a few days later I had a Skype interview with the hiring manager. I was informed that I was moving forward a few days later and had an in-person interview with a launcher and a Skype interview with the regional manager the same day.

The process really moved. About two weeks later I received a phone call saying that they all really liked me, but at the moment I wouldn't be a good fit. I really liked everyone that I spoke with and truly enjoyed the process. My experience may be a little different because I was in a city where Uber was recently being launched, so I didn't meet with a team seeing as there wasn't one yet. But totally loved speaking with everyone and Quynh, the recruiter, was awesome!

Interview Questions

Application

I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at Uber.

Interview

I sent my resume to a recruiter and heard back about 3 weeks later. First initial phone interview was great - normal questions about my background and why I want to work at Uber. The recruiter then sent me the creative exercise to complete over the next few days. I have to say, the creative exercise is an incredible opportunity to really think about what awesome ideas you could bring to the company. As long as you love the service, it's not hard to come up with endless ways to drive sign-ups and grow the business. I really enjoyed the exercise and after sending it through, heard back the next day that the GM would like to meet with me. A few days later, I had a Skype interview with the head Community Manager which was about 30 min. The final round involved coming into the office to make a presentation to all of the CMs, and then 2-1 interviews with 6 CMs. All the interviews were enjoyable and everyone at Uber is really easy to talk to. They don't want to throw you off - they genuinely just want to know what you love about the company and how you can add value to their rapidly growing team. It's truly a straightforward interview process that moves incredibly quickly. Following my Friday presentation, I was contacted on Monday to discuss an offer.

Bottom line - this isn't an interview process you can fake. You need to know about the company and mesh with the people you meet. You need to be passionate about Uber and the chance to be part of one of the most disruptive, innovative companies in the world. If you have that drive, interest, and creativity - you'll be fine.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Uber (Washington, DC) in September 2013.

Interview

Applied online and was contacted within a week. Had 3 interviews - first phone screen with HR, then with local team, then in-person with local team. HR was friendly but the process is very lengthy (it really feels like they are completely overwhelmed with volume of work and busy). The whole process took over 2 months.
After I applied online, HR sent me the Creative Exercise and scheduled a phone-screen. The creative covers different aspects of the role (from answering to customer e-mails, to promo ideas, to blog posts, to twitter posts). I actually really enjoyed the exercise because I am an avid Uber user and really had many ideas to share. I wouldn't be surprised if they used some (or all) of the ideas I gave because I really did tons of research and came up with some good ones - including integration of Waze into the driver app, for example. I wouldn't mind at all if they used the ideas and I don't believe they would use the recruiting process solely to lure candidates into giving ideas (like some other people suggested in other reviews here). You should really invest time into coming up with great ideas for the creative exercise and if you have never used Uber, forget it - this job is NOT for you.
The phone screen with local CM had broad questions. When I had the chance to ask questions was my opportunity to show how much I knew about the company/product.
The in-person was a 2+ hour meeting with 5 different people (entire CM team) - they gave me 30min to create/imagine a company with an app and create a marketing plan to present. It was definitely the most difficult interview I've had because you have to deliver within a tight deadline while dealing with the stress of being interviewed.

Interview Questions

Application

I applied online. The process took 5+ weeks. I interviewed at Uber in November 2013.

Interview

I applied for Uber in late October. I was contacted by a recruiter, Tasha, about setting up a time to chat via Skype.

We spoke a few days later and she asked me about why I was interested in working for Uber and a little about my background. She gave me details about the company and the culture and particular role. She was very nice and professional. She said she'd like to move me onto the creative exercise that most have mentioned in their reviews.

I spent a lot of time on the creative exercise and really had fun with it. I do not think that they are just asking for free work. They have teams all over the country thinking of marketing ideas all day long - I highly doubt that anything I presented was completely revolutionary or hadn't been thought of before by at least someone there at one point.

I was invited to the next round of interviews after submitting my exercise after a few weeks of waiting. I was asked to do a phone interview with a local Community Manager the same day. She was also very nice and open and I could tell she really loved her job. She loved what I did with my exercise and asked me to talk through how I visualized some of it working and how it would drive sign ups and sales.

In the end, I wasn't moved forward and found out a few days after my second interview. I feel that it most likely came down to a culture clash as that is when I felt the shift in the conversation. The ideas and implementation discussion I felt went well, but when we talked about culture that is when we came upon some awkwardness.

When I spoke to the recruiter I was told to expect a 50 - 60 hour work week with some weekend work. A tight knit group and hard working atmosphere. I was totally on board and excited. I am in night school and she asked me about that. When I explained my class schedule, meeting twice a week in the evening in one month spurts, she did not seemed concerned about it conflicting with this position.

However, when I spoke to the specific city I'd be working for and their culture, she quoted me a work week of 8AM - 1AM M-F and then both all day Saturday and Sunday, most weekend nights, and all major holidays and that I would be on constantly 24/7. I was also told that when and if they get free time, they spend it with each other.

This also, is totally fine for them and I'm happy that they are super tight and really really love what they do, but not what I was looking for in my lifestyle. When I asked her to dig into that a little bit - like how they combat burn out - she said that you just have to really love it. As I highly value quality time with my husband, friends and find it necessary for my own health and well being to have a variety of activities, like my classes and teaching dance once a week in the evening, I think we both knew I would have been miserable in that position having to give all of that up.

However, I highly recommend applying for Uber. It sounded awesome and great for someone who is most likely at a different life stage than I am. They are a great company, everyone was super nice, honest, and the interview was friendly.

Interview Questions