Software Engineer (Internship) Interview Experience - San Jose, California
June 1, 2025
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
Brainstorm with the interviewer and use Claude/GPT/whatever AI tools you want to use to prototype a feature within 1 hour. Write a prompt and use Claude code or Cursor to vibe-code it then.
Questions
How to implement a new feature for their existing feature.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 13 interview experiences for the TikTok Software Engineer (Internship) role in San Jose, California.
Success Rate
15%
Pass Rate
TikTok's interview process for their Software Engineer (Internship) roles in San Jose, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive38%
Neutral62%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having very good feelings for TikTok's Software Engineer (Internship) interview process in San Jose, California.
TikTok Work Experiences
5.0
Friendly Team, Time Zone Challenges
Software Development Engineer (SDE) • Former Employee
San Jose, California, United States
November 23, 2025
Pros: The people here are friendly, and the food is good.
Cons: You need to get a meeting with the team based in another country.
3.0
Impactful Work, Little Balance
Software Engineer • Current Employee
San Jose, California, United States
November 2, 2025
Pros: Great impact, large project, grow fast.
Cons: Low work-life balance.
Low work-life balance.
Low work-life balance.
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 Lots of technical documentation is fragmented, repeated, and often outdated.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it is usually written in Chinese, with algorithmic translations available or a translated version of the doc (sometimes outdated!)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.
- 5.0Friendly Team, Time Zone ChallengesSoftware Development Engineer (SDE) • Former EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesNovember 23, 2025Pros: The people here are friendly, and the food is good.Cons: You need to get a meeting with the team based in another country.
- 3.0Impactful Work, Little BalanceSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeSan Jose, California, United StatesNovember 2, 2025Pros: Great impact, large project, grow fast.Cons: Low work-life balance. Low work-life balance. Low work-life balance.
- 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.
TikTok Interview Questions
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