What it’s really like working at TikTok: Part 1

An insider’s view from within TikTok’s monetization product organization

Hi, I’m Melody! I left my PM job at Tiktok 3 months ago, after nearly a year and a half at the company. During my tenure and even after I left, I’ve received so many questions about what it’s like to work there from job seekers contemplating an offer, curious friends, my family -

How was it at TikTok? Are the rumors of working 996 (9 AM-9 PM, six days a week) actually true? Does it feel like a Chinese company, or a Silicon valley company?

I’d like to think that I’ve done some hard things in my career thus far. I joined Facebook right after undergrad, and spent 5 years in a variety of product roles. I’ve spoken at F8, and helped to oversee the growth of the ads API from $1BN to $15BN in revenue. I’m a builder at heart, so I learned how to code and pivoted into a full stack engineering role at Nextdoor. Then, I joined Roblox before its IPO and lead the development of Premium payouts, a new way for the 21,000+ developers on our platform to monetize based on creating engaging content within their games.

But working as a lead product manager at TikTok during the pandemic was by far my hardest career experience yet. 3 months after leaving the company, I figured it’s time to share my story.

There’s so much I want to talk about, it frankly terrifies me. In an attempt to make this less overwhelming, I plan to do a 2 part series. In Part 1 (this piece) I’ll dive into what goes on through my head as I answer TikTok questions from candidates, and my ultimate verdict on my TikTok experience. In Part 2, I’ll go more in depth about TikTok’s opportunities, and the key challenges I faced working at the Chinese-owned company.

My typical candidate conversation

“Thanks so much for hopping on a call with me, I really appreciate it!” Her bright voice rang over the phone. She would be the 15th person that reached out to me to ask me about my experience at TikTok. “I just got a PM offer here, and I wanted to ask you about your experience to help with my decision. We both worked at Facebook, so I figured we had some shared experience to compare to!”

I took her call because I completely empathize with her position, and I wanted to help her with diligence for the decision. Back in June 2020, I agonized over whether or not I should take my TikTok PM offer, grasping at straws trying to find someone, even a 2nd or 3rd degree connection, who worked at TikTok and could speak frankly about their experience.

There was so much I wanted to tell her, and I struggled with this every call I had. “TikTok is an incredible place,” I began. “At Tiktok, I did some of the best work in my career -”

“Wow, that’s really saying something!”

I nodded, yes. “I had the privilege of leading a talented product team. We launched TikTok’s first creator marketplace API. This helps creators get discovered by brands, and allows them to make more money from branded content deals. We also reshaped the team’s strategy of working with creator agencies, and helped to revamp our first party, creator and brand collaboration tools. Honestly — I’m not sure if I would have gotten this type of opportunity at Facebook.”

“That’s so awesome! What about the people?”

I thought about all the friendships I made, with both peers and my managers. “I’ve been lucky to work with a solid team, and I’ve made friends with both US and China colleagues. Keep in mind that product leadership is in China. It takes some time to make friends and build trust though, being remote and all.” It had been extraordinarily difficult to build relationships during the pandemic especially with teammates in China. Relationships that would usually take 2 weeks to establish in person now took over six months — or were never established at all. The friendships I did have with certain teammates, though, were strong and battle tested. “There are people here that I would work with again in a heartbeat, or hire immediately if I ever started my own company.”

“That’s so great to hear — people are so important to every job.” She continued. “I’ve also heard some pretty tough stories about TikTok, I’ve been reading the Glassdoor reviews. Lack of work life balance comes up time and time again. What’s that been like?”

I’d heard this concern from every person I spoke to, every candidate I interviewed. I debated furiously about how vulnerable I should be with this woman I had just met. “TikTok can be a tough, intense place,” I began. “I did some really great work with my team, but it came at a really high cost.” Thinking about the costs to my personal life and health made me slightly nauseous. “I work over 60 hours a week. Over half my team sits in China, so my meetings with China teammates start at 6 PM and end at 10 PM..sometimes later.”

“Got it. I think I read something similar online as well.”

I pressed on, trying to hit home the impact of the sacrifice. “I had little to no personal life during the week, and I had to work some Sunday evenings because that’s Monday in China. You’ll need to be able to handle that. Your family needs to be able to handle that.” I thought about all the weeknight dinners I couldn’t enjoy with my husband, eating in front of my laptop instead. I pretty much only saw him at bedtime, because he’d wake up earlier than me to start work. I was too embarrassed to admit that the pressure and the hours caused me to seek therapy. Then marriage therapy. My weight had dropped precipitously and I had trouble sleeping. I barely ever saw my elderly parents even though they lived close by.

“Got it. Yes, this is something that I will need to discuss with my husband as well. I have 2 young kids, you know.”

I sighed inside. “I see.” Personally, I would not have taken the job if I had kids, but that was her decision to make. Some people at the company have certainly made it work as parents, but it required a taxing schedule and extra help at home. In fact, most people on my team were not yet married, had no kids, and were younger than me.

“You’ll have to sprint here, and you’ll probably work harder than you ever have.” I felt like I needed to end the call with more directive advice. “If your goal is to push as hard as you can in your career for a well-defined period and accomplish a lot of impactful work, and if you have the support of your family, go for it. Realize that your tenure may be shorter because you can’t sprint forever.” I was past my burnout point for months now. “But if you prioritize sustainability, balance, more time for family, community, hobbies — or if you want to work at a company for many years through different life stages, I’d look elsewhere.”

She thanked me again for my time, and we hung up.

In summary

• Tiktok provided me with incredible opportunities to lead major product initiatives from 0–1, and for this I am immensely grateful. These types of opportunities can be much more difficult to come across at more established, Silicon Valley companies.
• A high level of personal sacrifice is required to work at TikTok. I found myself dedicating my entire life to my work at TikTok. My personal interests, time with my family, and mental and physical health took a distant back seat, and at times ceased to exist entirely.
• TikTok operates more like a Chinese company with some Silicon Valley influence — not the other way around. Decision making power and leadership teams sit predominately in China and Singapore. As a result, there are several dimensions of difficulty with Tiktok’s product roles — working culture, language barriers, time zone differences, and the pandemic.
• My advice for people evaluating a Tiktok product opportunity is to be extremely intentional about why you’re joining, and what you want out of this experience. This is important for every career move, but an opportunity at TikTok demands utmost thoughtfulness given the personal sacrifice required to succeed.

My verdict, 3 months after leaving

If I knew that working at TikTok would cost me this much, I would have never taken the job. June 2020 me would have run for the hills.

But now that I’ve reached the end of my time there, and I’ve had more time to pause, reflect, and process — I’m grateful for the experience, and I don’t regret joining. I’ve learned more and accomplished more than I ever thought I could in a relatively short period of time. I’ve proven to myself that I am resilient, and that I do have what it takes to succeed and lead within one of the toughest, cross-cultural company cultures. I have far more clarity on what I want and don’t want in my next career move.

You might be asking yourself — what exactly was so hard about working at this company? What made TikTok different from other Silicon Valley companies, and what kind of opportunities did I find myself staying for? I’ll discuss this in my next article, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading ❤️