I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Toptal (Curitiba) in Apr 2020
Interview
I applied to become a freelancer at Toptal. There are 4 phases to the process: screening interview, technical test, technical interview and a project. I made it to 3/4.
The screening interview is kinda easy, they basically want to know more about your experience and test your english speaking level. Then there's a test with a lot of questions around product management that go from how would you distribute a sprint considering team's velocity to naming specific pricing strategies. I found it interesting, although it's not clear which questions you got right or wrong. The technical interview was the tricky one. As a lot of people mention in their review, the case revolves around building an ATM to a 3-5 year old. It seems tricky considering most of us are software product managers, but what they're looking for (in my perspective) is understanding the way you go around discovery and building a consistent product strategy.
Unfortunately I didn't make it through as I struggled thinking too much about the "how" rather than the "what" and "why". I'd avise people to step on their problem solving skills for this phase and also their ability to focus on the problem as you build the solution.
The interviewer was kind and polite throughout the entire interview and at the end gave me a live feedback including reading tips and advice on how to improve my knowledge.
The only bad thing to me is that on the screening interview I was told you have to be in a PM position for at least 3 years to even be considered in the process but in the technical interview the guy mentioned most Toptal PMs have around 10 years of experience with intense Product and Project Management, and then he paused my application for another 18 months -- which, per say, would mean I can only apply once I've been a PM for almost 5 years.
I chose not to take any of this personally but it seems they're looking for people more on the Expert side of things and opening the interviewing process to mid-level people.
Overall my perspective is positive and I hope to grow and learn more in my career so that maybe in the future I get to be part of Toptal's freelance team.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
You're assigned to a project with a first time entrepreneur that wishes to build an ATM to 3-5 year olds.
You're MVP phase is through and now you want to go to market for real. What are the next steps for making the product scalable and acquiring customers?
I had an interview with a recruiter as part of the hiring process. The conversation included specific questions related to the role and my previous experience. The interview was structured and focused on assessing my fit for the position and understanding my background in similar tasks.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
to walk through my entire design process live, from understanding the problem to delivering a solution for a specific case
The process was very comprehensive, and the interviewers were very good at what they were doing. The first phase is quite easy, but when it comes to the later stages that's where the weeding comes out. Overall a challenging interview.
Recruiter kept me well informed throughout the process. They also provided documents about the company and benefits which was appreciative. You’re also expected to take an assessment during the process.
