I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at TikTok (Singapore) in Aug 2023
Interview
After a call with HR, I had round 1 which involved a HARD category leetcode challenge (k linked lists merge) and some system design questions. Despite success in the challenge and the questions, I was rejected by email the next day with little other feedback.
I applied online. I interviewed at TikTok (Singapore) in Jan 2026
Interview
Deep dive into past projects, anything that is relevant in software development would be asked, not only backend development. Then the interviewer posed questions about basic concepts and terminologies like locks, process management, memory management, database sharing etc. Ended with a medium Leetcode problem.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was the biggest challenge you encountered during this project and how did you solve it? Did anyone else's advice make you better?
A technical interview: the interviewer gives you a leetcode question, you clarify your misunderstanding with them, you write code while explaning your thoughts, finally you write test to test your code. Used HackerRank platform.
Recruiter - A phone call with the recruiter to ask generic questions
Tech 1 - With team member
Tech 2 - With someone from another team
Behavioral - With the hiring manager
