Top Talent is a curated network of the best builders and companies. We help great people find their next great role, and help companies get access to elite candidates they may not find through traditional hiring methods.
Top Talent is run by the founders at Studio 535.
We're not professional recruiters, but we do have deep experience with the hiring process. We have worked for and hired at big tech companies (ex-Shopify, ex-Uber) and startups. We deeply understand the problems that both great talent and great companies face, and we're building a better way to hire.
The best hires don't happen through job postings – they happen through your network.
If you're looking for your next great role, we'll put your profile directly in front of top companies in our network. Your profile will be anonymized, which is perfect for passive job seekers who may not want everyone to know that they're looking.
For companies, you'll get access to our pool of pre-vetted candidates. These are top candidates that may not even be on the job market otherwise.
We aim to work with growing companies with high-impact roles. We tend to work with early-stage companies (team sizes of <50), though we're growing our network and open to working with all.
Yes, we work with companies that are hiring remote, hybrid and onsite. Most of our companies hire onsite in Toronto, San Francisco or New York City.
When your friend signs-up for Top Talent, they'll be asked, "How did you hear about Top Talent?". They can share your name then.
If your friend gets hired through Top Talent, you'll receive $250! No account required. We send referral bonuses via Zelle (USD) or e-transfer (CAD).
We'll reach out with next steps if we think you're a good fit for the companies we're working with. Since we're in beta and actively growing the companies we work with, it may take us a while to review your application. You'll hear from us when you're being considered for a talent drop.
We'll review your application to make sure it's a good fit and we're able to support your hiring needs. You'll hear from us shortly with next steps.
You'll get an email from us when you're about to be included in the next talent drop. If any companies are interested in connecting, we'll send follow-up emails to you. You'll have 24 hours to accept the introduction. We'll then connect you with the company for you to coordinate a call.
If you know the company won't be a good fit, there's no pressure to take the call. However, in order to ensure a positive experience for all those on our platform, we reserve the right to remove you from our network if we deem acceptance rates to be too low.
For example, companies will see "Software Engineer, early-stage AI automation platform".
Every week, we'll email companies a list of ~5-10 fresh candidates. You can request an intro to any that you're interested in. If the candidate reciprocates interest, we'll send a follow-up email to make the introduction. There's no limit to how many intros you can request.
Candidates are vetted based on their career achievements, skills and potential for impact. We focus on those with a demonstrated history of delivering results. Our heuristic is: people we, as former hiring managers, would be excited to interview.
Yes, a link to the full list of actively-looking talent will be included in every drop email.
We pull from our talent pool based on the needs of the companies we're working with at the time. Expect predominantly Software Engineers, Product Designers and Product Managers, with the occasional Strategy/Operations and Leadership candidates. Expect primarily mid and senior level candidates, with the occasional entry, junior and exec level. Our network of talent is strongest in Toronto, San Francisco and New York City.
Our network is currently best poised to serve those located in the US and Canada.
It's 100% completely free to join Top Talent as a talent. No account is required.
We want our incentives to be aligned with yours. We take a small amount upfront, and a flat-fee bonus once a successful hire is made. Think of it like your employee referral bonus program. We'll be in touch with the exact amounts after sign-up.