While interviewing, Toptal: 1) Required TWENTY HOUR unpaid project to verify my chops. This was sprung on me as a hard requirement after already completing a screener video interview, a technical online assessment, AND a technical video interview!! (I refused, and hope you do too). 2) Toptal refused to give me a preview of the types of clients that are available for freelance projects so I could determine if the above project would be worth my time investment. Note that completing the project and passing the interview would enable me to join their network to yet again interview for any freelance work I wanted to apply to. 3) Technical interviewer shared that at best, it would be 1-3 months before I would be chosen for freelance work that I applied to. 4) Toptal was not open to my offer of spending 2-3 hours working on a draft project and walking them through my thought process, or compensating for my time. 5) Toptal's email communication was weirdly authoritative. For example, if your interview needed to be rescheduled, you could be barred for 6 months from their platform. Overall, the reason Toptal can tout that it only accepts 3% of applicants is that the vast majority of qualified talent will drop their interview process once they learn about their bogus demands while receiving zero transparency or value in return.