About the role#
The Knowledge Graph team builds the neural network for e-commerce at TikTok. We categorize products, influencers, and merchants while mining information to support recommendation systems. Our work involves identifying product attributes, determining category fit, and recognizing brands. We also analyze top-performing items to understand market trends. This role is for a PhD intern starting in 2027.
What you'll do#
- Build complex knowledge graphs covering product insights, content, and category or brand development.
- Design knowledge maps that detail the connections between buyers and products.
What you'll need#
- Current enrollment in a PhD program for Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
- Proficiency in Python, Java, C/C++, or Spark.
- Familiarity with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Keras.
- Experience in at least one of these areas: LLM, natural language generation, named entity recognition, machine translation, question answering, knowledge graph, information extraction, or text mining.
- Experience in at least one of these areas: Computer vision, facial recognition, multimodal learning, object detection, or image classification.
- Experience in at least one of these areas: Machine learning, transfer learning, graph embedding, recommendation, or reinforcement learning.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Coursework or projects in text classification, sequence labeling, or knowledge graphs is helpful.
- Knowledge of domain adaptation and unsupervised or semi-supervised methods.
- Exposure to large-scale data tools like Hadoop, Hive, or Flink is a plus.
- Previous work experience in e-commerce or the internet industry is preferred.
Location & details#
- Location: San Jose, California.
- Modality: On-site.
- Employment: Full-time internship.
- Compensation: $60 per hour.
- Selection process: Rolling basis.
About TikTok
TikTok operates as an entertainment provider. The company maintains a global presence with offices in cities including Los Angeles, Singapore, New York, London, and Tokyo. It employs over 92,000 people. The organization is privately held.
How to get in at TikTok
Landing an internship at TikTok requires speed because early applicants often get seen before the pile grows. Intern Insider sends an instant alert the moment a role matching your target is published anywhere, so you can apply among the first. This gives you a better chance of your resume being reviewed while the team is still actively filling the position. You should aim to be one of the first people to submit your materials. Reaching out to the right person can also improve your chances of getting a response. Intern Insider surfaces the recruiters behind the company roles so you can contact them directly to ask about the role or a referral. This direct approach often works better than waiting for a response from a general application queue.
