I applied online. I interviewed at Toptal in Sept 2022
Interview
While interviewing, Toptal: 1) Required TWENTY HOUR unpaid project to verify my chops. This was sprung on me as a hard requirement after already completing a screener video interview, a technical online assessment, AND a technical video interview!! (I refused, and hope you do too). 2) Toptal refused to give me a preview of the types of clients that are available for freelance projects so I could determine if the above project would be worth my time investment. Note that completing the project and passing the interview would enable me to join their network to yet again interview for any freelance work I wanted to apply to. 3) Technical interviewer shared that at best, it would be 1-3 months before I would be chosen for freelance work that I applied to. 4) Toptal was not open to my offer of spending 2-3 hours working on a draft project and walking them through my thought process, or compensating for my time. 5) Toptal's email communication was weirdly authoritative. For example, if your interview needed to be rescheduled, you could be barred for 6 months from their platform. Overall, the reason Toptal can tout that it only accepts 3% of applicants is that the vast majority of qualified talent will drop their interview process once they learn about their bogus demands while receiving zero transparency or value in return.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Technical interview asked me to explain agile as if I were talking to a seven year old, and to choose a favorite app and pitch 2-3 feature improvements. **Make sure to read feedback above on interview process.
The screen call with the recruiter was odd and uncomfortable. The recruiter said that I need to know each metric I've achieved for every role and company, even if it was 5 years ago. It felt like the recruiter was trying to verify whether I knew every detail of my CV. If I was wrong about any metric or number, this person would point it out
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell about your experience and metrics that you achieved for each of company in your CV?
I hadn’t expected a case study to be part of the initial HR and culture-fit round, so I wasn’t fully aware of the next steps in the process after clearing the first stage.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
PLG case study - didnt expect a case study in the first HR and fitness round
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Toptal in Jul 2025
Interview
Had a very negative experience due to the interviewer's lack of time awareness in the product sense interview round. This made me rush through the interview and made the experience less collaborative, resulting in me performing poorly.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is your favorite product and why? What do you like and hate about product management?