I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Toptal (Palo Alto, CA) in Apr 2018
Interview
TL;DR:
Don't waste your time like I did. I should have listened to the other reviewers!
If you were wondering how the heck they claim to be "the top 3% developers", that's it: They reject 97% percent of the candidates. Somehow they believe that the way they interview candidates is universally accepted as the best method! They are completely delusional! They should rename the company to Trumptal! lol.
PROCESS:
- Short introductory interview (apparently only to check your level of English).
- A Codility Test (3 problems, you have 30 minutes to solve each).
- "Whiteboard" interview (through Google Hangouts or Skype, sharing your screen).
You need to solve 4 short coding challenges (15 minutes to solve each) in the programming language of your choice. Somewhat like "Codility", but with 10 times the pressure... Dude with broken English and a funny accent is watching and letting you know how much time you have left (10 minutes! 5 minutes!... 2 minutes!...).
- A programming challenge Project (40 hours to complete) with a portfolio quality code that you would show to a client.
**** Note: All interviews were online.
NEGATIVES:
Pretty much the same negatives of all the other negative reviews at Glassdoor (note also that they all have been upvoted a number of times)...
I'm not going to list all of them again here, but I confirm all of them. Just sort the reviews by the number of upvotes (descending) and you will have a good picture of how terrible their process is...
IMPORTANT:
Another thing you need to be aware of is that you are not interviewing for a job, but you are interviewing to get accepted into their network of professionals. Joining them doesn't guarantee work. That might come later on (my understanding is that you will need to interview again for every new client they might introduce you to). In my opinion, that's a scam.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They don't spend too much time discussing your experience nor knowledge. They didn't even look at my portfolio! It's all about the time-limited coding challenges.
United States Coast Guard - Air Station Sacramento
No offer
Positive experience
Difficult interview
Application
I applied online. I interviewed at Toptal (United States Coast Guard - Air Station Sacramento) in May 2026
Interview
First you apply. you will get a link for a screening interview. (you can edit your interview if the time is not suitable for you.
One screen video call 15min. they arrange the technical interview (you have 48h deadline to start it)
One DSA assesment 1h (3 exercises)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
the easy was the count words in the biggest string
After two technical rounds that went over 1.5 hours, in which I was told I was going to move forward I got an email saying that they found someone else.
1 HR, 2 leet code, 1 project, 1 project defence
If you fail one of the leet codes you have a chance to re-apply again after a year. It wasn't bad, but its going downhill now. 2022 there weare about 300+ job offerings for my role, now less than 60