Pros
They pitched the role and the company well during the interview process. The HR team kept telling me how great the company was and to ignore the reviews from disgruntled employees. Certain roles and teams are more removed from the larger issues of the company. Remote work was a nice perk since not every company offered it at the time.
Cons
The benefits and pay were below average. Toptal’s salary is 20% below what most tech companies offer. They offer no bonuses, 401K match, or equity. I had to even pay for my own computer, internet, and any other tech I needed. Despite being told by HR how Toptal was one of the hottest tech companies, very few people have ever heard of this place. The people who knew of Toptal mainly had a negative view due to the CEO’s reputation. This made finding another job more difficult. The company is uber cost focused. Management tries to spin decisions for other reasons but it’s usually due to keeping costs down. Most employees are from developing countries. Spun as we identify the best talent in the world. Real reason is they can be paid less and get no benefits. Also unlimited vacation is spun as allowing flexibility. Real reason is so they don’t have to pay people out for unused days. Likely related to the above but the tech used here are really poorly designed. Rather than using 3rd party tools, Toptal tries to have their tech team design in-house options. Unfortunately, what ends up being created is usually really bad. Poor people managers across the board. Toptal has a lot of turnover so people are often put in manager roles without proper training or experience.