Process
Round 1: Recruiter call
Round 2: 1 hour (30 min LeetCode, 30 min ML basics)
Round 3: 1 hour (30 min LeetCode, 30 min ML System Design)
Round 4: 1 hour (with various members of the team)
Round 5: 45 mins with director
Round 6: HR and culture fit
Questions
LeetCode: LRU Cache, Top K Frequent Elements
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 125 interview experiences for the TikTok Machine Learning Engineer role in United States.
Success Rate
9%
Pass Rate
TikTok's interview process for their Machine Learning Engineer roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive34%
Neutral46%
Negative20%
Candidates reported having good feelings for TikTok's Machine Learning Engineer interview process in United States.
TikTok Work Experiences
4.0
Hate the 4 days RTO. Others are okay
Machine Learning Engineer • Current Employee
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
June 27, 2025
Pros: intelligent fellows, so that everything works smoothly.
Cons: Have to be 4 days RTO.
3.0
Bad work-life balance
Machine Learning Engineer • Current Employee
San Jose, California, United States
January 23, 2025
Pros: Learned a lot.
Good compensation.
Allows you a lot of work travel flexibility.
Cons: If you don't speak Chinese, you are at a severe disadvantage. I spoke Chinese and was still majorly disadvantaged.
There is no support for new employees. The onboarding process has very little structure.
4.0
A place where your work makes a real impact
Machine Learning Engineer • Former Employee
San Jose, California, United States
August 26, 2025
Pros: With a large user base and a small team, your work can make a real impact.
Cons: Not so much guidance.
Offices are located across the globe, and they work across different time zones.
- 4.0Hate the 4 days RTO. Others are okayMachine Learning Engineer • Current EmployeeSydney, New South Wales, AustraliaJune 27, 2025Pros: intelligent fellows, so that everything works smoothly.Cons: Have to be 4 days RTO.
- 3.0Bad work-life balanceMachine Learning Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesJanuary 23, 2025Pros: Learned a lot. Good compensation. Allows you a lot of work travel flexibility.Cons: If you don't speak Chinese, you are at a severe disadvantage. I spoke Chinese and was still majorly disadvantaged. There is no support for new employees. The onboarding process has very little structure.
- 4.0A place where your work makes a real impactMachine Learning Engineer • Former EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesAugust 26, 2025Pros: With a large user base and a small team, your work can make a real impact.Cons: Not so much guidance. Offices are located across the globe, and they work across different time zones.
TikTok Interview Questions
Explore Interview QuestionsTaro 75Google Interview QuestionsMeta Interview QuestionsAmazon Interview QuestionsApple Interview QuestionsNetflix Interview Questions
Explore Interview ExperiencesOpenAI Interview ExperiencesAnthropic Interview ExperiencesPerplexity Interview ExperiencesWindsurf Interview ExperiencesMistral AI Interview Experiences
