A TikTok recruiter approached me on LinkedIn.

The initial interview with the recruiter was positive. She was friendly and spent time patiently explaining the upcoming interview processes. She mentioned that the next coding interview could be scheduled anytime when I was comfortable, even if it was scheduled a month later.

I scheduled the coding interview about three weeks after my initial interview, due to personal reasons (work, kids, etc.). I needed longer to prep for the coding interview, as I am currently working in DevOps and usually don't do as much coding as a Software Development Engineer (SDE).

After three weeks of preparation, the night before the coding interview, another recruiter informed me that they were on a hiring freeze and canceled the interview.

I rated the overall experience neutral because the recruiter I spoke with was super friendly and professional. Personally, I gained a lot from doing LeetCode every day. However, it was still not a nice thing to cancel an interview last minute.

The interview difficulty is based on the initial talk with the recruiter.

Tell me about yourself.

Why do you want to work for TikTok?