I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Uber (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
It was a Data Scientist position at the Marketplace Optimization Data Science team.
Contacted by recruiter. First a phone screen with a Senior Data Scientist going over problem solving, stats/math etc, followed by a take-home data science exercise, and finally invited to on-site with 6 back to back interviews.
Didn't get the offer as I was in a pretty bad shape during that day and should have asked to reschedule instead. The interview questions were among the most difficult and quantitative but if you practice your advanced probability and modeling you should do fine. The people at Uber were amazing and I can truly felt that I'll be working with a stellar team if I could've got in. The interviewers will grill you in every way possible but they were never hostile, always on point and reasonable. Everyone was professional from the recruiter to the hiring manager and the overall experience was pleasant.
The only downside is that the onsite schedule seemed a bit rushed with 6 back-to-back interviews with hardly any breaks in between, but probably also tells you how fast-paced Uber is.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you measure the performance of [some Uber business]?
Modelling and optimization problems
Advanced statistics
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Uber (San Jose, CA) in Sep 2017
Interview
Directly talked to a team member from Uber eats for a data scientist position.
He made up question through my explanations. He raised business related questions to Uber. How to optimize model. How to measure evaluating regression.
The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Uber in Jul 2017
Interview
First a phone interview with HR. Then a phone interview with data scientist at Uber. She asked about my past projects and tested me on machine learning models (how does random forest work, difference between different unsupervised clustering models). At the end of the interview they asked if I would be interested in the software developer path or analytical path for DS. I chose analytical.
They gave a three part problem set: two SQL code problems, AB experiment design, dataset given to predict if new driver would complete a first ride within 30 days.
Onsite interview: 6 rounds of technical interviews with white boards. SQL problems, machine learning problems, general back of the envelope problems.
The people generally care about their problems they are solving at Uber. But it sounds like there is a lot of org movement and gaps in upper management positions. Strong leadership could be lacking.
They serve free lunch at Uber, and it was the worst campus food I ever ate. I distinctly remember their broccoli was burnt black and their noodles and chicken tasted like microwave food. The atmosphere also seemed sad. A lot of people walking around that didn't look happy. Their market street building was congested inside and looked like it hasn't been renovated for 20 years.
8 weeks after interview and still did not get reimbursement for travel expenses. They approved but won't reimburse my account. They kept making excuses that they had "finance" problems. I would not recommend Uber. They seem disorganized and not at the same caliber as leading Tech companies in the Bay Area.
How much would it cost (initial and sustaining costs) to having a fleet of vehicles take Google street view photos of every major city in the US every day?