I am a little surprised at all the negative comments, but then again they are all on the internet which tends to be a cesspool of negativity. My experience, which may be clouded by the fact that I loved the product before I applied, and ended up receiving and accepting an offer, was a decidedly positive one.
I applied online and received an email from the Uber recruiter a day or two later asking when I was free to do the initial phone interview. After about a 20 minute chat about my background and how it applies to what I'd be doing at Uber, the recruiter said she'd send me the creative exercise and would like me to complete it in the next couple of days.
For me, this was an amazing opportunity to showcase my talent as a writer and my ability to come up with fun, relevant, and a little bit wacky ideas about how to grow the business and increase customer engagement. I don't think it is out of line to ask an applicant to complete a HW assignment that mirrors their would-be daily work. If you are the sort of person who thinks this is superfluous and not worth your time, then maybe you shouldn't apply there. Think about it from their perspective: if you're not motivated enough to complete their sample assignment (which by the way is a lot of fun), why would they think you would be motivated as a future employee?
Anyway, I completed the assignment and sent it in on a Wednesday afternoon. I didn't hear from my recruiter contact, so on the following Monday I sent her a follow up email. She responded promptly and said that my HW was under review. A day or two later she scheduled the second round interview.
Here is where my experience is going to differ from pretty much every other candidate. It just so happens that I currently work in the same building in which Uber is located (just 2 floors below), so when they asked when I would be free to do the video chat, I responded by asking if we could just go downstairs and meet for coffee. They liked this idea. The first attempt at the coffee round didn't work out due to some scheduling issues, but on the day that it actually happened, I had a really good conversation with my now new manager and one of my now new teammates about how I can help improve their team and help their customers. It certainly was to my advantage to have been able to meet them face to face rather than via a video conference, and whether it was because of that, or my promising potential, my recruiter emailed me later that day saying I had made it to the next round.
The final round involved meeting the team in San Francisco. I made the long trip up to the 5th floor and spent about 2 hours with all my future teammates and managers. What I liked most about this experience was the relevance of the questions they asked me -- there were none of the inane "what's your greatest weakness" sort of interview questions which only prompt the candidate to lie and conceal what his or her real weaknesses are. I loved everyone I met with, and it felt much more like a dialogue than a Q and A session. I felt like I really "clicked" with all of them and could easily see myself fitting in well there. They obviously felt the same way because I got an email from the recruiter a couple of hours later asking if I had time to talk the following day. The 'talk' as it turned out was to walk me through my job offer.
Overall, I had a very positive experience. I've interviewed with many companies and would rank this experience among the best. Not just because I got what I wanted, but because it felt like a human process -- in every round they were able to quickly decide if they wanted to move forward with me, much like you would if you met someone in a non-work environment. My recruiter was prompt, responsive, and overall just really friendly, positive, and nice.
I know my experience is a bit of an anomaly, but I would encourage anyone who loves Uber and would love to join our team to not be dissuaded by the adjacent negative reviews and apply with a positive attitude. Good luck!