Very tedious and time consuming processes, also for the excel modeling I think they will forget a lot of calibers. For the cases it is very hard to understand actually what they need.

The process used by Toptal far exceeds that of other online-freelancer systems, but is certainly not ideal. I was telephone interviewed by an individual after submitting my application. While the interviewer was well-spoken, and very responsive and professional, he was offshore-sourced and did not seem to have subject-matter expertise in Finance. The personal approach exceeds my experience with other Freelancer sites, but is far inferior to real-world finance interviews. I believe Toptal onboards just about anyone for the next step - an online timed test. Test: I was then invited to take an online exam: 20 word problem multiple-choice questions - 45 minutes. I finished with 37 seconds remaining. From TopTal: "This step has a significant fail rate so you are encouraged to read all questions carefully and manage your time." Most of the questions were very basic finance-accounting related, but the topics ranged broadly.... from Valuation to FP&A to Management-Accounting to Financial-Reporting... that fresh knowledge of all is needed. I nailed the areas where I am expert (Business Valuation), but struggled with areas that I have not used in practice for some time. As a result, I failed the test - and am hoping to take it again. Toptal requires a 6 month waiting period prior to taking the test again. The interviewer refused to tell me my score, or the passing grade required; a policy which needs revisiting in order to gain confidence from talent. However, the interviewer did very quickly offer to have my answers reviewed to provide areas where I should focus in the future. Unfortunately, the response from the Finance-Team suggested areas that were so broad - and included areas where I know I passed - that I question that a bona-fide review took place. Perhaps they are protecting the integrity of the exam, which is understandable. The topics suggested to me include "after" my test: - Benchmarking & Valuation Analysis (I nailed this?) - EBITDA & Leverage Calculation (I nailed this?) - Financial Planning & Analysis (Cost-Volume-Profit questions killed me here) - Precedent Transaction Comps (I am a business-valuation professional, so I did well here?) - Variance Analysis (Management Accounting related - I did poorly here) - CAGR Calculation (I nailed this too?) In contrast, the areas suggested to me "prior" to taking the exam include: -Balance Sheet & Cashflow Statement Analysis -Benchmarking & Valuation Analysis -EBITDA & Leverage Calculation -Financial Planning & Analysis (a HUGE topic) -Precedent Transaction Analysis I can understand how such a testing process could turn off many finance professionals: it is impersonal & blindly covers such a huge range of finance (and Accounting) topics that it might not test specific finance areas.