Pros
The product is amazing and genuinely exciting The company is growing rapidly, and there’s a lot of hype and investment in TikTok from brands etc Cool partnerships you can work on (depending on department) Probably the most exciting social media platform out there - user growth is not a problem Reputation and clout of working at TikTok - having it on your CV will open doors in your career Young and fun team Great diversity (compared to other companies I’ve worked for) - people of all cultures, races, backgrounds etc welcome and celebrated Lots of diversity drives and events Nice offices
Cons
Salary is below industry standard. People on the same job level are getting paid widely disproportionate salaries. Recruiters are awfully aggressive and will try to haggle you down rather than levelling the playing friend. Benefits are close to statutory, and nowhere near as appealing as competitor tech companies - frankly laughable ‘benefits’ like a branded water bottle ‘gift’ at 2 years and branded snacks in the office. Bonus, promotions, and pay rises capped for silly reasons every year that you won’t get told about in advance. They hired too many people too quickly during the pandemic, meaning that they aren’t able to reward enough people accordingly at each review period. Lots of frustration within the team among people who actually work hard; you’ll see people who constantly take credit for other people’s work or who suck up to senior management get rewarded with promotions. Lack of clarity over titles, job levels, and pay rises. Many legacy leaders in the company who lack industry or managerial experience and are currently leading departments. Recruiters tasked with hiring so many people so quickly that many employees slip through the cracks who simply don’t have the right experience or are simply unprofessional: during my tenure, at least 5 people were fired (1 for faking experience on her CV and 1 for getting drunk in front of clients!!) and at least another 15 who resigned. Several were signed off by doctors for burnout and stress. Your experience will be entirely based on department. Departments that report into China will face constant team re-orgs (literally every other week), people being demoted, zero work life balance (constant messaging throughout the evening), communication issues (language barriers, meetings conducted in Chinese, team members getting shouted at in company wide meetings), goals changing every 2 weeks, strategy that is not applicable to the market getting dictated to you…the list goes on. The strategy is a MESS (all short term goals, zero long term vision) and many people are hired for positions that don’t even exist - then told on their first day that they’re getting relegated to a position they a) didn’t even apply for and b) don’t have relevant experience in. Aggressive goals and stress from senior management breeds a competitive environment with zero team culture; team morale is super low. They make it very clear to you that employees are replaceable, and will treat you as such. In a nutshell: it really depends on department but in general, expect to be underpaid, frustrated by either incompetent colleagues or senior management, and treated like a tiny cog within a big machine. The incentive to stay here is to get the name on your CV and make some friends - then go elsewhere for a better salary and benefits. I learnt a LOT in a very short time and made some lifelong friends, but I couldn’t see myself staying here longtime…it’s hard seeing everyone around you also being worn down, and I witnessed many people whose mental health was seriously affected.