Backend Engineer Interview Experience - San Jose, California
July 1, 2024
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
This is the first coding interview of the hiring process.
The interviewer first asked some technical questions about my background, such as "What's a challenge you had in your internship?"
Then, one LeetCode medium problem was presented, also with a follow-up.
Questions
What's a challenge you faced in your last internship?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 4 interview experiences for the TikTok Backend Engineer role in San Jose, California.
Success Rate
0%
Pass Rate
TikTok's interview process for their Backend Engineer roles in San Jose, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive25%
Neutral50%
Negative25%
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for TikTok's Backend Engineer interview process in San Jose, California.
TikTok Work Experiences
3.0
Scale Fast, Docs Slow
Backend Engineer • Former Employee
San Jose, California, United States
October 30, 2025
Pros: Operates at an impressive scale. Iterate quickly and fail fast to build successful features.
Cons: Fast growth results in a slightly disorganized ecosystem. Lots of technical documentation is fragmented, repeated, and often outdated. Additionally, it is usually written in Chinese, with algorithmic translations available or a translated version of the doc (sometimes outdated!) also available.
2.0
Bad culture, little growth opportunities.
Backend Engineer • Current Employee
San Jose, California, United States
June 8, 2024
Pros: - Generally smart people.
- Depending on the team, might have interesting problems at scale.
- Good compensation.
Cons: - Below average working culture and WLB on a good team, and absolutely terrible working culture and WLB on a bad team.
- Many night meetings.
- No focus on growth at all; management just chases short-term goals to show off in the review cycle.
- Poor tech practices.
- Performance theatre.
2.0
Comp is good, but management is chaotic.
Backend Engineer • Current Employee
San Jose, California, United States
May 8, 2024
Pros: Comp is decent.
WLB depends on team.
Cons: Night meetings.
Strict RTO policy.
Constant reorgs.
Office politics.
- 3.0Scale Fast, Docs SlowBackend Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesOctober 30, 2025Pros: Operates at an impressive scale. Iterate quickly and fail fast to build successful features.Cons: Fast growth results in a slightly disorganized ecosystem. Lots of technical documentation is fragmented, repeated, and often outdated. Additionally, it is usually written in Chinese, with algorithmic translations available or a translated version of the doc (sometimes outdated!) also available.
- 2.0Bad culture, little growth opportunities.Backend Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesJune 8, 2024Pros: - Generally smart people. - Depending on the team, might have interesting problems at scale. - Good compensation.Cons: - Below average working culture and WLB on a good team, and absolutely terrible working culture and WLB on a bad team. - Many night meetings. - No focus on growth at all; management just chases short-term goals to show off in the review cycle. - Poor tech practices. - Performance theatre.
- 2.0Comp is good, but management is chaotic.Backend Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesMay 8, 2024Pros: Comp is decent. WLB depends on team.Cons: Night meetings. Strict RTO policy. Constant reorgs. Office politics.
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