Key Takeaways
Platforms such as Toptal, Turing, Upwork, etc have made the hiring remote developers easy, yet finding the right or the best developer for your project is still a challenge. The success of your project depends on the expertise and skills of your candidate.
But the real question is- where to find the best talent? Is Toptal the answer? Or are there better Toptal alternatives in the market? In this blog, we'll explore the vetting process of Toptal vs Alternatives and its various alternatives, outlining the approach, process, pros and cons and finally, how to choose the right platform for your needs.
Why Developer Vetting is Crucial?
Listed below are various reasons why recruiters should go the extra mile and invest in a thorough vetting process:
- Project Success: Hiring the right candidate for your project maximizes its chances of success. A thorough vetting process aligns the gap between idea and execution.
- Improves Productivity: Vetting improves organization's productivity by placing the right candidate at the right place at the right time. The attrition rate becomes low, thus minimizing chaos & confusion, leading to improved productivity.
- Assesses Technical & Soft Skills: A skilled candidate is well-versed in not just technical aspects but soft skills, too. Comprehensive vetting evaluates these abilities, ensuring a holistic view of the candidate's fit. This includes their ability to take up difficult tasks like configuring user authentication, SMS verification on the app/ site.
- Cultural Fit: To ensure that your candidate fits right within the team & its working environment, a cultural fit assessment is required which can be done only by vetting approach.
Toptal's Vetting Process: A Brief Overview
As the name suggests, Toptal focuses on hiring only the best talent for your organization. Its elite network ensures only the top 3% make it to the organization, thus rejecting the others. Its vetting process, which takes up 3-8 weeks to complete, is as follows:
- Language & Personality Test: This test is the first hurdle in the entire process, wherein, only 26.4% make it to the next stage. Skills such as grasp over the English language, communication and personality traits are assessed.
- In-Depth Skill Review: This aspect filters out only 7.4% applications where evaluation is based on technical skill set, problem-solving and domain knowledge.
- Live Screening: One of the crucial steps in the process, wherein Toptal industry-leading experts conduct live screening to test candidate's overall expertise.
- Test Projects: To further lend credibility in their process, a candidate is then asked to complete a project which takes upto 1- 3 weeks.
- Continued Excellence: To maintain the quality of their top-tier candidates, Toptal passes only 3% of candidates in this step to deliver the best.
Toptal vs Alternatives: Comparison of Vetting Process
- Toptal vs Turing
When comparing Toptal vs Turing vetting process, candidates on Turing have to appear on automated tests. The candidate creates a profile and uploads a resume and any other necessary information required by the platform. Turing then offers a Tech Stack quiz based on the candidate's experience and skill set. Once the test is cleared, the platform leverages the AI Matching Engine to complete the profile setup and help them find a job.
- Toptal vs Upwork
Upwork's vetting process is nowhere as stringent as TopTal or Turing. The platform lets remote developers find projects based on client's reviews, feedbacks and ratings. The basic skill test matches the profile of developers with clients. Since there is no regulation over how ratings are awarded, recruiters may encounter inflated ratings or fake profiles.
- Toptal vs Fiverr
Likewise Upwork, Fiverr platform is based on user ratings, and recommendations, self-promotion and order completion. However, Fiverr conducts a preliminary check of experience and other information facilitated by the remote developers. Though the vetting process is not rigid, Fiverr still offers a qualified pool of candidates at competitive rates.
- Toptal vs Other Platforms
Alternative platforms such as Freelancer, Gigster, Gun.io and others have their own vetting process. Freelancer's vetting process is similar to Upwork & Fiverr. It relies on client ratings and basic skills without actually investing in screening. On the other hand, Gigster still conducts interviews and assesses the technical skills of an application. However, Gigster caters to high-budget clients, unlike other platforms. Meanwhile, Gun.io relies on matching the skillset of an applicant with the client's requirements after pre-vetting the candidates.
Pros and Cons of Toptal vs Other Alternatives
Toptal
- Pros:
- Top-Tier Talent: TopTal's USP relies on offering highly qualified candidates, unlike other platforms.
- No Preliminary Cost: Clients do not have to pay an upfront cost to browse talent or hire remote developers.
- Elite Network: Toptal boasts an elite network of developers who are committed to delivering the best to their clients, thus maintaining Toptal's quality.
- Cons:
- Long Process: Toptal screening time may prove a hindrance in urgent hiring.
- Limited Talent: Owing to a stringent and rigid process, the pool of applicants is limited
- Less Variety: A similar set of talent with a similar skill set does not offer much variety to recruiters.
Other Platforms
- Pros:
- Budget-Friendly: Alternatives of TopTal offer budget-friendly and cost-effective solutions. There is no upfront cost required by sellers or clients.
- Broader Pool of Applicants: Unlike TopTal, these platforms offer a larger pool of candidates to choose from, thus making it easy for recruiters to find the best talent.
- Flexibility: Many platforms offer flexibility in hiring on a project, task or hourly basis.
- User Ratings & Reviews: Most platforms are based on client ratings and reviews systems creating transparency and a healthy feedback ecosystem within the community.
- Cons:
- Compromised Quality: Due to the lack of a stringent vetting process and broader pool size, the quality of applicants is compromised and also inconsistent.
- Increased Risk of Misrepresentation: Sellers can fake their profiles or information, thus creating a lack of trust between recruiters and developers.
- Average Results: Owing to inconsistent quality across profiles, there are increased chances of delivering average results to clients.
Choosing the Right Platform: Key Considerations
Consider the following factors to hiring remote developers:
- Qualified Talent: Every recruiters wants to hire qualified candidates. However, quality cannot be the only consideration in the vetting process. If your organization is limited by budgets & deadline constraints, consider using Upwork or Fiverr for a broader pool of applicants. On the other hand, if quality is the only focus, then consider using TopTal.
- Budgetary Constraints: Toptal offers the best choice of candidates for high-value projects. However, for cost-effective solutions, try to go for other alternatives.
- Project Requirements: For a complex project demanding high skill set and technical expertise like integrating OTP SMS services, TopTal's thorough vetting process is appreciated. However, for simpler, mundane and non-essential tasks, recruiters can switch to Turing, Upwork, Arc, etc.
- Deadlines: Toptal's vetting process takes up to 3-8 weeks of screening, which is not ideal for urgent projects. However, other platforms offer quicker solutions. Remember in pursuit of meeting deadlines, do not overlook the quality.
Conclusion
The best approach to hire remote developers is to assess the needs of your organization. Pitch those requirements against the features, pros and cons of Toptal vs alternatives. While Toptal emerges as the best screener to find top-tier talent, it may not be feasible or ideal for various reasons. Hence, choose from a wide range of Toptal alternatives which best suit your needs.
