The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at TikTok (New York, NY) in Jun 2020
Interview
Product Marketing Manager - API
As much bad reviews as TikTok gets, I had a great experience. Communication with recruiter was very responsive from the start.
First interview - HR. Standard questions about background
Second interview - Team member. Behavioral questions (What's been your biggest frustration, tell me about a time..., etc)
Third interview - Hiring Manager. Deep dive into my experiences at current and past roles
Fourth interview - Product Manager (cross functional). Case type product sense questions. (What would you do if developers did not deprecate current API in time?)
Fifth interview - Global head. More case type questions, but these were about partners and internal stakeholders (What would you do if your stakeholder was bypassing you when delivering information?)
Not once was I asked "Why TikTok" or "Why do you want to work at TikTok"? I found this odd but I suggest you prepare for those.
3 weeks total from time I was contacted by HR until decision. Unfortunately they did not move forward with me because I lacked the technical background for the PMM role. I had strong marketing experience but they decided to go in a different direction.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What would you do if your stakeholder was bypassing you when delivering information?
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at TikTok (Singapore)
Interview
Process: Total of 5 rounds: 1) Potential peer, 2) Reporting Manager, 3) Team Lead, 4) HR, and 5) HR VP. I progressed to the 4th stage. Interview was conducted in English.
Experience: Rounds 1–3 were standard and focused on role-specific responsibilities and relevant experience. Round 4 with HR was straightforward, covering salary expectations, notice period, and a check on Chinese language proficiency for regional stakeholder management.
Outcome: While I was informed a final interview with the HR VP would follow, it was never scheduled.
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at TikTok
Interview
There were 6 rounds of interviews. The process itself was fine, nothing too out of the ordinary for a larger company, but they did not get back to me after the final round. No email at all. I felt like I wasted so much of my time to not get a single comment after six rounds of interviews.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
There was a mock pitch type interview where they give you a prompt in advance and you have to make slides and present it to the interviewer. I was given a new product and was asked to sell it to existing clients who are using a different product at the moment.
5 rounds! You will meet hiring manager, team leads, XFNs, etc.
Be prepared, the culture is not the best. You should ask your interviewers difficult questions and guage for yourself if you can withstand the demanding, back-breaking sweatshop culture. Most of us feel we can cause we just want the job, but after entering, realise it's on a scale we could not have anticipated. So ask the hard questions!