Early 2019 I went for an interview with Uber. Mind you it wasn't in Silicon Valley, but at a smaller office in Europe. Anyways, the interview process is very similar to other big tech companies - 5 interviews, 2 on coding, 2 on systems design and a manager one. I've done and I'm still doing phone screens and interviews for my current company, but the level of unprofessionalism in Uber still stays with me. Most of the interviews were okay, but I remember the last systems design one, where the interviewer walked in with a glass of Bailey's and was acting like he was owning the place. That really put me off. Don't get me wrong, I like a drink as much as the next guy, but there is a time and a place for that. Definitely not during an interview. When it came to offering me a job, they did send me a RSU package as well, with the promise that the stock was massively undervalued and will skyrocket once the IPO is out. Guess what - just as everyone expected the stock tanked.
I'm so glad I didn't take the job. It just showed a culture of not-giving-a-fuck, laziness and false promises. And that's not even in the headquarters. I'm definitely not surprised about the different levels of misconduct going on there.
I did report the Bailey's guy when they asked me for feedback, but I still regret not walking out as soon as the guy walked in.
My point is - if that's how they handle interviews, I wouldn't even wanna know what the overall culture is and I'm glad I stayed away from it.
I really hope there is some law against companies actively spying on people, as it sounds like happened in the article, but I struggle to think of where this falls legally.
The thought that companies could start to take an active, vengeful take is very frightening. Especially if they work together and share private information. I'm not sure that's really illegal either?
Would you be able to get a restraining order against a company? How would you prove it was them anyway?
This really turns my stomach like an Orwellian novel. It feels like it could easily happen to anyone.
It would be terrifying to have an endless series of people tracking you, spying on you, looking for any embarrassing thing to expose. What anonymous hackernews person are you, does anyone remember you doing something in high school? Keep this in mind when looking at whistleblowers - they face a lot of trouble when bringing things like this up.
