My experience was similar to many others. Any organization that uses a timed test to determine top talent is seriously on the wrong track. The test was pretty absurd and not at all representative what it takes to be a successful contractor, or a successful problem solver. I stopped the test after answering just a couple of questions. It seems like it was written by people who don’t understand how successful engineers work these days. Speed kills!

Toptal had a pretty simple interview process, at least as far as I experienced it. The recruiter sent an email expressing their interest in hiring me, scheduled and conducted a short phone screen, and then extended an offer for a technical skills test. This is where things fell apart. The skills test was essentially three coding exercises over 90 minutes. The first time I took the test, it went poorly - I approached the test with the wrong basic idea, and I accepted my mistake. They offered a re-test after one month had passed and I took them up on it. The second test I approached with a mindset better suited for [silly, unrealistic] coding challenges. Unfortunately, I attempted to use their testing IDE (codility) to properly simulate the datasets they said the code would be tested under. The system failed with unclear errors, causing me to lose time looking for errors in my code. In fact, the errors were in the test data, but the test data complied with all listed requirements. This cost me enough time to just barely put my final solution outside of the time window for the test, causing a significant point loss (one of three problems failed). Ironically, this third question was far outside the realm of what most would consider a "simple" test, and from follow-up survey questions by the testing platform, seemed to either be a known-issue question, or an untested question. I brought up these issues with the toptal rep after they asked for feedback, and expected an understanding response, hopefully addressing the shortcomings of the IDE and minimally engaging in another one-month-later retry. Instead the toptal representative was dismissive, and just short of disrespectful, citing that there were no issues with the system and that their testing methods were tried and proven. I offered to share the test data which had broken their system and they had no interest in addressing or even considering that their testing environment had a fundamental flaw. At the end I was told I could re-apply in two years. I have serious reservations about working with a company so blatantly ignorant and self-blinding to an issue reported with reproducible evidence in their own hiring system. What deeper issues would exist in a company unwilling to face reality when given all the facts freely by an unpaid third party (potential future employee). If anything, a potential employee has motivation not to alienate potential employers by reporting an issue with the employer's system.