Comment by amingilani | Hacker News Reader

Comment by amingilani | Hacker News Reader

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Toptal[1]

If you're a really good engineer (like I strongly believed I was) and don't have the network to find gigs (I live in Pakistan) freelance market places are great ideas on paper but never work out... Until I joined Toptal. They screened me to ensure I was a good developer (high quality supply of developers) and then worked with me to find a client that would be a good fit.

Since not everyone can get into the marketplace, it isn't a race to the lowest rate and they have the best clients I've ever worked with. At one point an old client emailed asking me to temporarily move to Australia for a project (although I declined)

You can work full-time, part-time, or even hourly. It's exactly what you're looking for!

Full disclosure: I later joined Toptal as an editor for their engineering publication [2] so I technically work there but this was all based on my experience as a freelancer there

[1]: referral link - topt.al/cppg [2]: https://www.toptal.com/developers/blog#contract-just-respect...

As a counterpoint, I found their interview process so frustrating and disorganized that I gave up on them and told them I was no longer interested...

They do both an online programming test, and an in person “code in front of us” test + whatever else. They don’t make it clear up front what the interview process is, and often drop the ball... miss appointments etc.

I found the exact same thing. I found the staff rude, slow and like they thought I was beneath them. I consider myself a skilled developer with a long, happy client list filled with some pretty big names. I also felt like they didn't respect my time with regards to my timezone. The guys at gun.io have been pretty nice but I haven't worked with them yet.

Interesting. I did find the process a bit arduous, but my interviewers were fairly professional. They were always punctual. Your experience is also the exact opposite of what Toptal tries to be: incredibly dedicated.

Might I suggest giving it one more go? Your experience is likely an exception, and definitely not the norm.

Personally, once I got through the screening, and started working with clients, I decided the screening process is well worth it.

How much do you make from Toptal? A year ago I started the process with them, and they told me that they generally have regional rates. They corrected that programmers are free to choose their own hourly rates, but hinted that you won't get projects if your hourly rate is higher than average (They did not openly tell this, but the implication was clear).

They mentioned that the average hourly rate for India was $20 -- something which is way below what I make in the day-job in India. Also, I have worked at much higher rates as a freelancer.

At $20, I just decided that going through their arduous interview process was simply not worth it.

What has been your experience?

I'm not entirely comfortable sharing my rate but I started from near it and just moved it up. I haven't had any trouble with my much higher than regional rate since I truly believed I could make it work at that rate.. and I did

I don't know their internal rates process at all but I always thought regional rates were meant to be guidelines. To be honest, living costs for India or (in my case) Pakistan are much lower than the US so I'm certain I still come out with more income after living expenses

Been working for/with Toptal for over a year and really liking it. I first started working freelancing through Upwork and hated it, the clients were bad & rates low (plus Upwork takes 20%).

I really like that Toptal takes care of screening for quality clients and dealing with payments. Plus they try to provide some soft benefits like personal & professional development.

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