I applied online. I interviewed at Toptal in May 2017
Interview
It's all pretty clearly laid out on their website:
1. A 20 minute behavioral Skype call mainly to check for English proficiency.
2. 90 minutes to do 3 algorithms questions (all automatically scored).
3. 60 minutes to do 2 algorithms questions whilst sharing my screen with a Toptal engineer.
4. A web application to develop over a few days (had 2 weeks to do it). I spent a total of 4 days on it, but most of that time was me learning ReactJS (something I wanted to do anyway).
The whole process took about 3 weeks, but that was mainly because I had a backlog of work to do for some clients. I probably could've got through the whole thing in 1 week if I had nothing else to do. I found the process as a whole to be challenging, but incredibly fun.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Toptal (Cape Town) in Jun 2026
Interview
The interview process has been structured and professional so far. It started with the initial application and screening, followed by an online coding assessment with algorithm-style questions focused on correctness, edge cases, and problem solving under time pressure. After completing that stage, I was invited to schedule a live technical interview. Communication has been clear, with detailed instructions about the interview format, environment requirements, screen sharing, and expectations around working without external assistance. The process feels rigorous and time-sensitive,.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Write a function to return the maximum number of words in a sentence from a given string containing letters, spaces, and sentence-ending punctuation.
Tech screening and then tech interview, leetcode style questions. Then there was a take home project.. not in-person. all done remotely and online. Good interviewers, helpful, easy process and good communication
I applied to Toptal and I'm having an interview days later. What can I prepare for now? I wanna get some details or tips from you. Please help me with your toptal screening interview experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What was the last project you have worked on and what did you do in that project?