It was very unprofessional. Even tough the recruitment team reached out to me on Linkedin, they kept scolding me about why I want to leave my current employer which was odd. They also kept asking me condescending questions around why I change jobs so quickly (every 2 years) and insinuated that they are worried about my commitment to companies or stability. I had to reiterate multiple times that I will not be able to answer their questions about my current employer due to confidentiality. At times, it felt like they are more interested in getting to know the company I work for, than me as a candidate.
After we made it to a stage where I received an email confirming "they want to make an offer", the recruitment ghosted me for about 11 days. They did not respond to my follow up emails. I then received a phone call informing me that they continued interviewing locally, because it is not possible to get me a work permit. In response, this is the email I sent. Redacting names, not to expose anyone.
"Thank you for the news. I did not want to give my feedback over the phone as I think some written feedback could help recruitment processes of a growing company such as TikTok. Please feel free to share this with the team as well.
While I understand TikTok is a fast growing company and a lot of things are in flux, it took me multiple emails requesting feedback to only find out TikTok has been interviewing with a local candidate after telling me that the company will make an offer. Here, I'd like to clarify that my resentment is not towards TikTok complying with local laws, which the recruitment team should have checked before. Rather, my resentment is towards not showing the candidate in an offer stage enough respect to provide a timely update regarding the fact that the offer won't work out.
While the tech world is big, senior talent specializing in the type of skill sets you are looking for is exceptionally small. Word around unprofessional and untransparent hiring practices travels fast and helps shape an external image for the company. This process has definitely negatively shaped my confidence and positive perception of TikTok.
This is not an angry email. It is rather some peer to peer feedback which I hope will result in improvements in TikTok's hiring processes. While I would personally no longer consider a recruitment/interview opportunity from TikTok moving forward, I hope the company will treat future candidates with more respect and transparency."
High level feedback: Total waste of time and negative experience.