TikTok Data Scientist

So now you've got the compensation data, are you ready to negotiate? Not quite.

First, as tech companies strive to stay competitive, compensation data is constantly in flux. This is especially true for businesses like TikTok, which are seeing rapid growth. 2022 numbers show a slight increase (5-10%) in base salary from 2021 while other components remained stagnant. (Note - we have helped a few candidates achieve above-band exceptions for RSUs and sign-on bonuses, although it’s rare). Knowing the complete range for each component is helpful for maximizing your negotiation.

However, even with robust compensation data, it's not always enough. In 90% of cases, telling your TikTok recruiter that you saw online that the top of the band is $X and that you’d that number won't work. So, if that won’t work, what will?

Companies negotiate when they believe you won’t accept their offer. But, since you just finished a long and arduous interview process with them, they know you are likely to accept the job unless you have higher competing offers from other great companies.

This means you need to create leverage and make it believable that you are considering other options but would prefer TikTok if the compensation is comparable. This sounds easy but quickly becomes challenging if you don’t have other offers or if your other offers aren’t higher than the top-of-band comp numbers you are targeting.

Another example of creating leverage can be by doing lots of research into the company and building great internal relationships so that they feel more willing to increase your compensation to get you to sign. For example, we once worked with a professional increased their signing bonus by $50K without any other offers. They had built a great relationship with the recruiter over the multi-month interview process and the recruiter went to bat for them to ensure they would join.

Even if you are in a perfect situation where you have a competing offer with comp higher than the top-of-band numbers you are targeting at TikTok, the negotiation can still get complicated.

TikTok is known to be a tough company to negotiate with, as recruiters will often try to trick candidates. TikTok recruiters often refuse to disclose levels (making it challenging to establish anchor numbers), very rarely don’t disclose the correct title (TikTok Data Analysts typically make less than TikTok Data Scientists), set exploding offer deadlines, and will occasionally even alter previously agreed-upon numbers.

If you want to have a chance at receiving a top-of-the-band offer, you must be ready for these situations. Negotiating is fundamentally a game of preparation, strategy, and leverage.

Looking for more support negotiating with TikTok? We wrote a comprehensive article of the ins and outs of negotiating with TikTok recruiters.