Summary
I recently interviewed for a Mid-level (2-1) position at TikTok/Bytedance. The process included two LeetCode problems, a system design round, and a behavioral interview, ultimately leading to an offer.
Full Experience
I had my interview rounds for a Mid-level (2-1) role at TikTok/Bytedance. The technical portion consisted of two LeetCode problems. The first was a direct LeetCode problem, and the second was a graph problem that required a BFS approach to track even and odd levels for grouping. Following that, I had a system design interview where I was tasked with designing a monitoring system with user-configurable alerts. The final round was behavioral, covering standard questions about my past projects, challenges, and reflections. Overall, the experience felt comprehensive and tested a range of my technical and soft skills.
Interview Questions (6)
This was a weirdly worded graph problem about splitting friends into groups. The core concept involved using Breadth-First Search (BFS) and specifically keeping track of nodes at even and odd levels from a starting point to determine the groupings.
I was asked to design a monitoring system that could send alerts, and critically, these alerts needed to be configurable by the users themselves.
I was asked to describe my favorite project, elaborating on its scope, my contributions, and the impact it had.
I was asked to discuss the biggest challenge or conflict I've faced in a professional setting and how I navigated it.
I was asked about a past situation where, in hindsight, I would have done something differently.
Preparation Tips
For the system design interview, I diligently followed the structured approach recommended by HelloInterview, which proved quite helpful. Regarding LeetCode, my preparation included practicing a wide array of problems, which fortunately covered the concepts needed for LC 1293 and the custom graph problem. The behavioral questions were fairly standard, so my general interview prep on reflecting on past experiences was sufficient.