What it does: TikTok provides a platform for people to be entertained, express themselves creatively, or learn something new through short videos.
Mission: To inspire creativity and bring joy
Size and presence: It has 226 employees and about 2.5 million Australian users
Best known for: It is the leading destination for entertainment and edu-tainment, especially short-form mobile video.
The good bits: It is certified as a Great Place to Work (Feb 2022 - Feb 2023)
The not so good bits: Long hours for those who need to communicate with teams based in China
Owned by Chinese technology giant, ByteDance, TikTok was founded in 2016 and has exploded in popularity. It is currently the most downloaded non-game app in the world and is available in more than 150 different markets.
In Australia, it was launched in May 2019 and opened its local office in Sydney in June 2020. The company is spending more on local brands and users, including hiring local talent to support the Australian TikTok community.
By December, it was on a hiring spree. Most of these roles are in the marketing and media strategy department, including creators, looking for trends, and helping them grow. The partnerships with the country’s leading creators, brands, and agencies make it the fastest-growing social media company in the country.
One of its local plans for 2021 is to establish Australia as an innovation hub for TikTok, considering that the country has a long history of creative advertising culture. It also focuses on continuing to grow its local operations and invest in its growing community.
TikTok is a place for you if you love content and working in a fast-paced and collaborative environment. Diverse perspectives and fresh ideas are celebrated here. As an innovative company with a lot of freedom to initiate an opportunity to explore ideas, it offers a vibrant atmosphere.
It has a fast-paced but flexible working environment. People are given a lot of responsibility and can learn new technologies. With collaborative and great team-mates to work with, the platform and the workplace connects people from across the globe.
On the other hand, with the structure, processes, and priorities in the company being new and often changing, the employees can spend more hours a week in meetings, and have to dedicate additional time to complete their work. Daily tasks and schedules can be unpredictable.
Also, almost 100% of senior leadership sits in China, so many aspects of the decisions are made there. Therefore, certain positions in the company may have long working hours with meetings scheduled around China time zone.
To join the team, fresh graduates and other interested candidates can apply on the company’s site. Some of the current job openings are Creator Growth Strategist - Top Creators and Public Figures, Client Partner-Key Accounts, Creator Strategist, Solution Engineer, and AUNZ Sales Operations Team.
There are also open positions for candidates that already have many years of professional experience, such as Senior Manager-Artist Partnerships, Client Solutions Manager- Key Accounts, Program Manager, Head of Partnerships, and Marketing Program Manager.
The general requirements are Bachelor's Degree or above; experience in content, marketing, advertising, entertainment, or tech and media industry; good communications and interpersonal skills; and the ability to work in an international and diverse environment.
The hiring process may include an online assessment, followed by several rounds of interviews with potential teammates, the hiring manager, or cross-functional colleagues. You should be prepared for hypothetical, behavioural, and case-based questions related to the position you are applying for. For the technical candidates, there will be a coding interview to understand your algorithm, coding, and design skills.
It is a fast-growing company with lots of opportunities for professional development, such as promotion from within, a leadership training program, access to online courses, a mentor program, and an associate training program. However, promotions are increasingly hard for newer employees, and it can become too competitive.
The company gives competitive salaries and benefits. The range of salary per year is approximate: Intern (AU$60,000), Account Manager (AU$60,000), Software Test Engineer (AU$61,280). The higher range can be expected from positions such as Director (AU$145,000), Product Manager (AU$99,000), and Project Manager (AU$100,000).
The following benefits may be offered:
TikTok encourages young people to have a positive impact on those around them as well as the planet. Many individuals and organizations find their meaningful use of the platform to raise awareness around specific causes that include:
Despite the previous assurances of safe storage in Singapore and the US, TikTok said that their staff in China are able to access the data of Australian users. However, they have procedures and policies that limit internal access, only available for people in order to do their jobs.