Recently, one of our students just finished TikTok Video interviews at MLE Intern. The interviewer was Chinese and the communication was smooth, but the overall difficulty was significantly higher than expected. The trainee read a lot of tiktok posts before the interview. Many people said that the Intern interview would not be too difficult, but this one was obviously in "Hard mode" and I was kept digging for nearly an hour.
The interviewer's style is quite direct: as long as it is about the technology stack written on the resume, he will ask about it one by one. Python, JavaScript, C, Java, and CSS are almost all included. They don’t just stay at the usage level, but also follow the principles, scenarios, and details. The answers are a little more general, and I will follow up immediately.
The entire interview lasted about 60 minutes, and the pace was very tight with basically no buffer time. From resume project in-depth research to technical questioning, the overall intensity is closer to the formal TikTok technical side, rather than the "easy Intern side" mentioned in many posts on the Internet.
TikTok MLE Intern VO Interview process and content:
Part 1: Resume Revisit + BQ + Bombardment of Eight Words (first 30 minutes)
I went over the resume items in detail, then asked a few BQs, and then the long Trivia session began.
Because I had a mixed bag on my resume, the interviewer really grabbed at the questions one language at a time.
- Python:
- It's been a long time since I've used it, and I didn't understand anything the first question asked.
- Asked about Decorator. (I couldn't really remember, so I said I mainly use Java now, and he immediately switched to Java).
- Java:
- Why do you think Java is an object-oriented language?
- How does garbage collection work in Java? (Java GC Principles).
- When do we use "final" as a keyword?
- C language:
- Why C doesn't support function overloading?
- How to convert a string to an integer in C?
- JavaScript:
- What is rest parameter in JavaScript?
- Test Related:
- List six types of software testing. (List 6 types of software testing and also give examples).
- Have you used Selenium before?
- List five ways to locate (catch) a web page element, with examples.
Later on, I was asked about three or four other tools or techniques that I hadn't heard of at all, and I skipped them when I saw that I didn't understand them.
Part II: Code Examination (20 minutes after)
After being confused by the eight-legged text, I started to write the code. Luckily, the code part is quite routine, one Medium and one Easy.
Finding the longest palindrome substring of a string (LeetCode Medium original question)
class Solution:
def longestPalindrome(self, s: str) -> str:
if not s:
return ""
start, end = 0, 0
for i in range(len(s)):
# Case 1: Odd length palindrome (center is a character, e.g., "aba")
len1 = self.expandAroundCenter(s, i, i)
# Case 2: Even length palindrome (center is between chars, e.g., "abba")
len2 = self.expandAroundCenter(s, i, i + 1)
max_len = max(len1, len2)
# Update boundaries if a longer palindrome is found
if max_len > end - start:
start = i - (max_len - 1) // 2
end = i + max_len // 2
return s[start : end + 1]
def expandAroundCenter(self, s: str, left: int, right: int) -> int:
# Expand outwards as long as characters match and indices are valid
while left >= 0 and right < len(s) and s[left] == s[right]:
left -= 1
right += 1
# Return length. Note: right and left are effectively at invalid positions
# after the loop, so length is (right - 1) - (left + 1) + 1 = right - left - 1
return right - left - 1invert a single linked table (LeetCode Easy original question)
# Definition for singly-linked list.
class ListNode:
def __init__(self, val=0, next=None):
self.val = val
self.next = next
class Solution:
def reverseList(self, head: ListNode) -> ListNode:
prev = None
curr = head
while curr is not None:
# 1. Save the next node to avoid losing the reference
next_temp = curr.next
# 2. Reverse the direction: point current node to previous node
curr.next = prev
# 3. Move pointers one step forward
prev = curr
curr = next_temp
# At the end of the loop, 'curr' is None and 'prev' is the new head
return prevPart III: Rhetorical questions (last 10 minutes)
I asked when the results would be available. The interviewer replied that he needs to submit the information and scores to his superiors and then they will evaluate it and the process may go back to my resume again. So the time is not sure, it may take longer.
Summary and Insights:
Although it's an MLE position, this VO felt very focused on fundamentals and breadth of resume.
- About Coding: It's all pretty normal force-buckling type questions, so don't panic and just play normally.
- About the eight shares: Really be responsible for every word on your resume! Interviewers will "torture" you on all aspects of your tech stack on your resume. Although I applied for MLE, I was asked a lot of general CS fundamentals and features of different languages, so don't leave out the fundamentals in addition to the knowledge of big models when you prepare.
Face TikTok MLE, make sure you pay attention to these points
- What you write on your resume must be what you prepare
Don't take chances and don't write about language or tools you haven't used in depth. - The eight strands don't ask if you can write, they ask if you understand the principle.
Especially like to ask why, how to implement it, and what to do at the bottom. - The breadth of the study is greater than the depth
You will be jumping around from language to language, so be prepared for the "Multilingual Basics". - Coding is very basic, but bug-free and logical.
TikTok doesn't screen people with really trick questions. - Extremely high importance of expression
You jam, pause, and circle the wagons, all of which directly affect the other person's judgment.
TikTok MLE Frequently Asked Questions
1. Will the TikTok MLE VO ask for ML?
It will be asked, but mostly the machine learning content that comes up in your project, and won't dig as deep into the formulas as it would in a research position.
2. Will there be an examination of the eight units associated with the Big Model?
This year it started to ask about basic big model concepts like embedding and inference processes, but it's still mostly centered around what you wrote on your resume.
3. How many languages should I prepare?
If you have three or four courses on your resume, he'll ask about all of them as you've written them.
It is recommended that "long unused language" be removed from the resume.
4. Is Coding hard?
It's not hard, LeetCode common two questions will do.
5. Will the interviewer be pushy?
There will be no intentional pressure, but TikTok's interview style is inherently fast-paced and to-the-point.
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