The Toptal hiring process for freelancers
Tags: toptal, freelance, remote
Published: 2018-10-12 12:50:02

---
title: The Toptal hiring process for freelancers
published: true
tags: toptal,freelance,remote
---

![cover](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/devletters/covers/homeoffice.jpg)

> First posted on [Dev Letters](https://devletters.com/letters/toptal-process/)

I wrote this Medium post of wanting to become a digital nomad. There I discussed why the digital nomad lifestyle appealed to me and how I wanted to accomplish this dream of mine. 

[Wannabe Digital Nomad](https://medium.com/aviaryan/wannabe-digital-nomad-305ca4d17bf4)

The last step in that article was getting selected into Toptal. Mind you, I hadn't applied to Toptal back then and just thought that if I could do it, it would make my dream of becoming a nomad so much more possible. 

And I did get selected a few months later. 

Months passed and I haven't started nomading yet (for personal reasons). But in this last few months, many people have asked me to share my experiences on applying to Toptal. So here I am with a walkthrough of the same.


### Round 0: Applying

To get yourself considered for a freelancer position at Toptal, you will have to submit your profile to them. You can do so by going to their website and using the "APPLY AS A FREELANCER" option. 

I would very much appreciate if you use my [referral link](https://bit.ly/toptalaviref) to do so.


### Round 1: Screening call

This is the first step of the screening process. In this round, you will be interview by a recruiter.

It will be more or less like a normal interview, just answer the questions to the best of your abilities.

<!-- They will ask questions about your career, projects, and more specifically, freelance projects. Answer these questions to the best of your abilities and you should be fine. -->

One thing though, if you are a non-native English speaker, it would be advisable to work on your speaking skills first. That is, be sure that you speak clear and correct English. Practicing English speaking in your daily life for a few days should do the trick. 


### Round 2 and 3

<!-- : Coding exercise -->

Due to certain NDA, I can't disclose the exact details of this phase.

But it was a challenging round which tested my problem-solving skills, especially on the speed and efficiency parameters.

If you want to prepare for it, I would recommend practicing some code based problem-solving. A recent letter I wrote could help here.

[Getting started with Competitive Programming - Build your algorithm skills](https://devletters.com/letters/getting-started-with-cp/)

<!-- 
Round 2 is a [Competitive Programming](https://devletters.com/letters/why-competitve-programming/) style test of 90 minutes that checks your algorithm and problem-solving abilities. There are 3 questions in it and you are expected to solve them as efficiently as possible.

These questions are subjectively graded on various parameters such as speed of execution and memory efficiency. So don't worry if you are not getting the perfect solution to a problem, just code a working algorithm.

You might struggle with them if you don't have any recent practice of Competitive Programming or have not ever done it before. In that case, I would recommend going through the following article of mine. Just doing till Step 2 in that article should be good.

[Getting started with Competitive Programming - Build your algorithm skills](https://devletters.com/letters/getting-started-with-cp/)
-->


<!-- ### Round 3: Live Coding

In this round, you do the same thing as Round 2 but except you do it live, in front of a recruiter. And you have more limited time, if I remember correctly, just 10 and 15 minutes respectively to solve the 2 problems that are presented. 

I know it sounds tough but if you remain cool-headed and have enough practice, you can get through it. Again, having enough practice of Competitive Programming will help here, go through the above-mentioned article if you are not pro-CP. 

An important thing though, in this round unlike the last one, you need to solve all the questions correctly to qualify. So take it very seriously.

If needed, practice with a timer to make sure you are able to code solutions quickly. -->


### Round 4: The Project

This is probably the easiest of all rounds. Basically, you need to do a project in the primary tech domain of yours. The only catch here is that the end product you make should be production-ready.

What do we mean by this? I mean it should have ...

- Proper input validation (example, only take email in email fields)
- No UX glitches (example, clicking on user photo should open their profile)
- Optimized code (example, sending an email should not happen on the main thread)
- Neat design (example, the text should not overflow and should be readable at all places)

You are given a fixed amount of time to do this task. Use this time properly and give this project your best effort. 

It is very easy to miss the things I just mentioned. Test your project many times to make sure it is *perfect*. 

This is the final round. Get through it and you will be able to work as a freelancer through Toptal.


### What happens if I fail in a round?

As an applicant, you should know this.

Failing in a round will put a temporary hold on your application process. The hold duration can be anything from few months to a few years so keep this in mind before applying.

<!-- The first hold is usually short, like 2-6 months but the second hold i.e. failing for the second time may put a hold on your application for multiple years. 

So keep this in mind before applying. -->


### Conclusion

Toptal is one of the best things that can happen to a freelancer. If freelancing is something you fancy, consider applying to Toptal. 

And if you found this letter helpful, please use my [referral link](http://bit.ly/toptalaviref) to apply.

Cheers!