Who should join TikTok
Tik Tok is a bad fit for most people working in Tech.
It is an unusual company, doing unusual things in unusual ways. And doing them unusually fast.
But there are plenty of reasons to join. And reasons why joining may be a truly great decision for you. Tik Tok may be a great decision for you if:
you are undervalued and looking for an opportunity to prove yourself at the highest level.
want to undertake something truly unique with all of the cultural challenges that come with that.
operate at scale, at a mix of levels above and below what your are used to.
The people who do best at Tik Tok have three things in common.
They have a fire in their belly, a chip on the shoulder or some other intrinsic motivation spurring them on through challenges, frustrations and setbacks.
They are comfortable moving up and down the org stack. One minute getting their hands dirty on a detailed solution, the next creating a future-facing location strategy for a medium-sized org.
They excel in ambiguity, are adaptable and can adjust ways of working between the stable 'best practice' of western big tech to rapid, unstructured and occasionally opaque 'ready, fire, aim' of Chinese tech development.
If any two of these describes you, then you will likely be unnaturally suited to working at Tik Tok and so benefit from getting a front seat at the world's fastest growing tech company.
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This post is part of the TikTok Sequence, a series of short thoughts inspired by my time working with TikTok. The posts focus mostly on the experience of work culture at TikTok and companies like it.