There is the known pattern: 1. Codility tests to be passed in 90 mins. 2. Live coding with an interviewer. 3. Project. I passed 1 from the first try. Then I failed two times at the point 2. The experience at the point 2 is bad. The interviewer presents you a problem, makes sure you understand, then measure your time. If you pass over 15 minutes, you're off. The second live test was like this: I have to wait for some Pablo J to show up for more than 15 minutes from the fixed hour. And they expect from you: "Join the meeting room on time. Please note, failure to attend your interview without prior warning may result in your application being paused for six months." Well, why did not I paused THEM for six months? I wonder... So the guy shows up, no excuses presented, I can barely hear him, the connection is really slow. I did not have such problems in the past - I have fiber internet connection - so the problem is on his side. What do they say prior to the interview? This: "Make sure you have a reliable internet connection and a working web camera so that there are no issues with the video call and screen sharing." Nevertheless, I accept the conditions, and we move on with the problem. The problem is easy, just to parse some string and compute the maximum sequence of paired items which result from parsing. I won't describe it in detail. But: I applied for C++ position. I did not have any lib available and I have to do the parsing manually. Most of my time was spent on parsing the sequence and consider the edge cases. So the guy says: "You have to minutes left" - like I am about to be decapitated in two minutes. Give me a break! I frantically debug to have the correct computation and it seems it works. The guy sends me some testcases. Two of them are failing. And the guy starts saying: "I cannot give you more time to debug, etc., etc. You failed the live test." I received no help from his side, or "let us have a look together". He continues: "You can apply again to TopTal in two years." Yeah, sure, I can't wait for! Side note: After the live test, in one minute I fix everything and the program works. A message for TopTal: Codility tests are written, clearly, by a Python-ist. When in Python one can write string.split(separator), in C++ there is no such thing, not even in the in the STL. You cannot blindly put tests on the table which favors one programming language over the other. Oh, but you can! If your recruitment process is inflexible and short sighted, sure you can! That is why I don't feel sorry for not being a TopTal-er. I will not even try to join again, I PROMISE you!