Toptal talent faq

Toptal Talent FAQ As you get started with Toptal, here are answers to the most common questions that might come up.

GETTING STARTED WITH TOPTAL

Q: Once I’m accepted into the Toptal network, what happens?

A: We will work with you to create a public-facing Toptal profile. This profile will describe your skills, relevant work experience, and more. Once completed, it will be sent out to clients if you’re a good match for one of their projects. You can also apply directly to client projects via the Eligible Jobs page.

Q: What types of engagements are there?

A: Hourly (you'll work hourly according to client needs and be paid for a minimum of 2 hours/week) Part-time (20+ hours/week) Full-time (40+ hours/week) Q: Do I get to choose the projects I work on?

A: Absolutely. You will never have to work on a project that doesn't interest you, and a Director of Talent will help introduce you to clients you are interested in and qualified for.

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Q: How do I apply for work?

A: There are two ways this can happen: Find a job on our Eligible Jobs page that you’re interested in and qualified for, and apply for it. Toptal is trusting you to only apply for jobs that are a good fit for your skills and interests.

Our team is constantly at work matching members of our network to available jobs, so we may also contact you to let you know that we’ve identified a potential position for you. We’ll then discuss the opportunity with you to determine if it’s a good match for your interests, skills, and availability.

Q: What happens after I apply for work?

A: When you apply for a job, our team works diligently to get a response from a client as quickly as possible. However, getting a response may take time.

You are always welcome to check in with Directors of Talent about the status of your application for a particular job.

Q: What happens when a client likes my profile?

A: Assuming you are interested and available, you will be introduced to the client directly for an interview. If the interview goes well, then they will start a trial period with you.

Q: Do I need to discuss my rates with clients?

A: No. You will negotiate a rate with Toptal, and leave the rest to us. We work hard to ensure that you will have multiple challenging opportunities available whenever you’re ready for them. When you’re introduced to a client, they will already be aware of your rates — just focus on exceeding their expectations in terms of your expertise and communication skills.

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WORKING ON TOPTAL PROJECTS

Q: What is a trial period?

A: During the trial period, you work with the client as you normally would, doing your best, delivering outputs, attending meetings‌ doing great work and proving to the client that you are an extraordinary freelancer. Trial periods can be up to 10 business days, depending on the length of the engagement and the agreement with the customer.

Q: What happens at the end of the trial period?

A: Upon completion of the trial period, the client makes a decision about keeping you on the team. Potential outcomes at the end of the trial period are as follows: Client is satisfied and keeps you on their team (about 99% of all Toptal engagements).

You are paid in full for the hours worked during the trial period.

Client decides not to keep you on their team (about 1% of all Toptal engagements). In this case, there are two possibilities: If the decision is based on some reason other than your performance (e.g., poor cultural fit), then you are paid for 50% of the time worked during the trial period.

If the decision is based on dissatisfaction with your performance, then you will not be paid for the hours worked during the trial period. This is an extremely rare occurrence at Toptal, but it does mean that you are responsible for having a satisfied client at the end of the trial period.

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Q: How often should I communicate with clients?

A: As much as possible. Generally speaking, it’s better to over-communicate than to under-communicate. As a rule of thumb, if we were to take you and your client into two separate rooms, you both should always be able to give identical answers to the following three questions: What are you working on now?

What were you just working on?

What will you be working on tomorrow?

Q: Do I need to track my hours?

A: For hourly engagements, you are required to track your hours and to input them into your account at toptal.com. For part-time and full-time engagements, although you are not required to track or input your hours, we recommend that you do keep a log of your hours for future reference.

Q: What if a client asks for more than 20 hours on a part-time or more than 40 hours on a full-time engagement?

A: For weekly engagements, we do not track hours. It is expected that you will be able to work extra hours as needed during the occasional crunch times that inevitably happen on a software or design project. It is part of being a great professional.

However, if you find that a client has truly unreasonable project or time commitment expectations, let us know. If warranted, we will intervene. One advantage of working with Toptal is that we can act as intermediaries for you and help tactfully communicate to a client that what they want is unreasonable, thereby working with you and the client to help achieve agreement about expectations and objectives.

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Q: Does Toptal use a standard set of tools or a specific workflow?

A: No. Toptalers are expected to seamlessly integrate into clients' workflows, systems, and processes. That said, clients will occasionally ask for guidance in establishing their setups, so be prepared to guide them.

Q: Do you have any tips for working remotely and communicating with clients effectively?

A: Check out some of the remote work posts on the Toptal Blogs for tips on setting up a remote office, best practices for communicating with clients, recommendations for meetings and project management tools, etc.

ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

Q: When will I be paid?

A: You can always track the status of your payments on the Payments page on the platform.

Toptal invoices its clients biweekly (i.e., every two weeks). When a client is invoiced for your time, a pending payment entry will appear on your Payments page with a status of “outstanding”.

The status of the pending payment will subsequently change to “due” 20 days after Toptal invoices the client.

Once the status of the payment to you changes to “due”, it is scheduled to be paid to you within a few days. In other words, we’ll always pay you on time, regardless of whether or not Toptal has received payment of the corresponding invoice from the client.

Once the payment has been made to you, the payment status changes to “paid”.

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Q: How will I be paid?

A: You will always be paid by Toptal (rather than by Toptal clients). Toptal supports multiple payment methods, including Payoneer, Wire/ACH, and PayPal. Many Toptalers choose Payoneer, since funds are available the same day and the fees are minimal, but Toptal will gladly support whichever of these payment mechanisms works best for you. If you have any additional questions about payments or payment processes, you can always email payment@toptal.com.

Q: Can I get a signed paper version of my contract?

A: Yes. While almost never necessary, we are able to send you a signed paper version of the contract.

Q: Can Toptal guarantee no gaps between projects and full utilization of the number of hours I’m available?

A: Client demand for specific expertise and skills ebbs and flows; however, we work very hard to ensure that you have as many great opportunities as possible. The more flexible you are when it comes to rate and willingness to get up to speed on new areas of expertise, the more likely you are to always be engaged.

Additionally, if you are ever interested in other opportunities, such as joining the Screening Team, while you’re between projects, contact screening@toptal.com.

Q: Is client work the only type of work I can do for Toptal?

A: While client work is the bulk of what Toptalers do, there are other potential ways for you to get involved:

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If you are interested in joining the Screening Team, contact screening@toptal.com If you are interested in joining the Toptal Engineering Blog Team, contact editor@toptal.com If you are interested in joining the Sourcing Team, contact sourcing@toptal.com Q: How do I change my availability?

A: You can do this directly from your Toptal dashboard.

Q: What if I have any questions, problems, or concerns that are not covered here?

A: You are always welcome to email or Skype your recruiter.

ABOUT THE TOPTAL NETWORK

Q: How do I get published on one of Toptal’s Blogs?

A: Toptal Blogs are a top source of quality technical posts and is read by many Toptal clients and hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Publishing on the blog is a great way to let us help you become a thought leader in your field and increase your visibility.

We provide: A team of technical editors to guide you through the writing process An illustrator to provide professional visuals for your post Promotion of your article through Toptal’s syndication partners and community For more information, email editor@toptal.com.

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Q: How do I connect with other Toptalers?

A: Toptal is a global network of extraordinarily talented people, and we want you to be involved!

The Toptal Slack Community is the easiest place to connect with Toptalers who are in your country or have similar technical skills, or just to chat about hobbies and interests. We also announce new jobs, events, and updates there first to keep you in the loop. If you want to meet Toptalers in person, come join us at an event in your city. For more information, email community@toptal.com.

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