El proceso duró 2 semanas. Acudí a una entrevista en TikTok (Londres, Inglaterra) en nov 2019
Entrevista
1. Phone screening: 1 hour interview about what you did previously, basic ML techniques (deep neural networks basic like optimization, generalization, use case) and software (more into Data Structure, numpy array etc) engineering.
2. Onsite interview:
A. Software engineering
B. Research part about music AI
3. Pair coding test: given datasets and problems, solve the data retrieval and predict the patterns using ML technique. Given 1 hour to do on our own, then feedback/discussion in the next 1 hour.
My concern: unsuitable time to do online pair coding because the interviewer was in the US and in the UK was already late at night!
Another thing, the HR kept promising to give the feedback by phone but until almost 5x emails he never reach out again (always busy, perhaps kept forgetting to make phone calls, why not give feedback by email?)
Preguntas de entrevista [1]
Pregunta 1
floating error, how to do unit test/regression test, do you use GIT, what are the difficulties in a software eng team, what are the diff between dynamic/static array (array and tuple and list), what is the efficient DS type to store periodic database (like audio/music).
what is your research background? How did you solve unfamiliar research topic? What are potential research you want to do in TikTok (music AI)? Explain RNN, cross entropy (loss), etc.
self introduction; easy coding (write a function to produce fibonacci numbers + complexity analysis + recusion/dynamic programming); deep dive into my own research; casual talk on the team and tasks;
Envié una solicitud electrónica. El proceso duró 4 semanas. Acudí a una entrevista en TikTok (San Jose, CA) en mar 2026
Entrevista
The process started with an HR screening, followed by three technical interviews, and concluded with a final interview with the Hiring Manager. Overall, the process moved quickly, and each stage felt smooth and well-structured. My performance seemed solid throughout, and the discussions with the interviewers were generally positive and engaging. Despite this, I was ultimately rejected after the final interview.
Interviewer was unclear about role expectations, asked vague questions, provided minimal context about team or projects. Felt rushed, no time for candidate questions. Unprofessional experience, difficult to assess mutual fit.