Dear Uber Recruiter
I get email from someone recruiting for Uber about once a month. I try to leverage my privilege as an engineer to speak out on what I believe in, so this is the latest iteration of the mostly-canned response I send back.
Hi [Name],
Thanks for reaching out. I really do appreciate that you took the time to check out my writing, and I’m sure the technical problems you’re solving are genuinely interesting.
However, I am a woman, and Uber’s track record on women scares me. The latest, on women who have been assaulted via Uber, felt particularly jarring. But also: The gendered attacks on a prominent woman in tech, the sexualized ads in France…
I just don’t think I’d be a culture fit.
(And, as a backend engineer, it doesn’t seem like a place I’d get a lot of respect, either.)
Again, I really do appreciate the thoughtful email. But I want to let you know why I’m not interested in working at Uber.
Best,
Tess
To Uber’s credit, I have only ever received respectful and understanding responses from their employees.