Victor Carpe / Recruiting and talent acquisition

Araki：Thank you for joining the Daijob Career Fair ONLINE. What is your feedback after experiencing the fair?

Victor：I would definitely say it was a success, especially in terms of our main goal which was increasing our Employer Brand in Japan and giving people a more precise idea of what it is like to work at Uber. The recording of our Career Fair live video is also going to be a good resource, because it includes a general introduction to Uber and then goes into the different kinds of core business areas, including hiring manager’s experiences at Uber. Regarding the tactical aspect, this initiative that we conducted together with Daijob Career fair under what we would call “Employer Branding”.

Araki：What was your impression of Daijob.com before using our services as a recruiter?

Victor：When I used Daijob as a new graduate I thought that the Daijob.com platform is very easy to use, because unlike some of the other Japanese job change websites, it’s quite easy to switch back and forth between the Japanese and English interfaces.

Araki：So you have known Daijob from using it as a candidate. What was the reason you have decided to join the Daijob Career Fair ONLINE as a client?

Victor：The main reason is that I know Daijob.com’s platform is really good and is used by many different people both in Japan and abroad. For Uber specifically, it is easy for me to explain our service to people who are already using our platform, but at the same time it is quite difficult for people to imagine what we actually do at Uber and what the work is like on a daily basis. So in terms of the “Employer Brand” the recognition is quite low at the moment, even though the brand itself, especially in terms of Uber Eats, has quite a high level of awareness in general. My goal for the next few months or years is to at least bring our “Employer Brand” to the same level of recognition as the brand of our service.

Araki：Could I ask what Uber does globally and in the Japanese market?

Victor：In terms of the global market, we started as a ride-sharing company. We do have several ventures for example ‟Uber for Business“or ‟Uber Freight” but I think the core of our business has shifted a little bit towards “Uber Eats” in the past year or so, given the COVID-19 pandemic. We are moving towards growing not just “Uber Eats”, but also “Uber Delivery”, so people who are using the platform might have noticed that convenience stores, supermarkets or grocery stores have been added to the options. We are really working towards broadening what people can get in a 30 minute time frame.

When it comes to Japan specifically, because of the restrictions in ride-sharing, right now our business model is much more of a partnership with taxi companies and Uber is essentially a mobility platform. Our business in Japan has been focused on “Uber Eats” specifically and is growing tremendously, which is why we are always looking for great people.

Araki：I felt that many Uber Japan employees are bilingual people, but I suppose that most Uber Eats are Japanese local restaurants. I was wondering what is the reason a certain English level is required for your positions. How do your teams work?

Victor：It is different from team to team. Our two main core business teams are Sales and Operations. Operations is in charge of the overall short-term and mid-term strategy related to our App, basically optimizing it and trying to reduce any kind of inefficiencies. On a day to day, it is a mix of extracting data, analyzing data and building strategies around what we see and monitor in our marketplace. In that sense, Operations is not really as an external facing role as Sales.

As for the Sales team, there would be a lot of conversations with the local partners, but at the same time, especially at a more senior level, it is very important to be able to report and present at a regional and global level and share what’s happening in Uber Japan. Especially because we are quite a lean team – Uber Japan has about 150 people at the moment. It is quite important to be able to speak English at all levels, especially at the more senior sales levels.

Araki：What kind of candidates applied to Uber through Daijob Career Fair ONLINE？

Victor：A lot of people were new graduates and did not have much experience, which is actually good in the long term. I am thinking that if we could partner up again in the future, the entry level Community Operations roles might be a little bit better fit for the Daijob.com users. The most valuable thing was that by joining the Daijob Career Fair ONLINE we have gained recognition from a wide range of candidates. If some candidates have seen our presentation but do not apply right now, or are not quite qualified right now, they can apply in a few years, which is fine because we aim for success in the long term.

Araki：What does the future hold for Uber Japan?

Victor：I think Uber Japan is now only beginning to grow. We hope to be able to leverage the relationships which we have created this past year, not only in terms of growing our business, but also benefiting the people around us as a whole. The consumers were able to stay home and stay safe while enjoying great foods, and our restaurant partners were able to use Uber Eats as a new way to think about their business in the future and in this “new normal” time. Of course, our delivery partners are also a very important part of our business. I think we have already started benefitting people around us and as this win-win situation and virtuous circle keeps moving forward it will keep bringing more growth.

Araki：Thank you very much for your time, we hope your business continues to grow since I actually use Uber Eats twice a week! We are looking forward to working together from here on as well!

Victor：That’s great! I hope so too.