Hi everyone! I was endorsed today (22 May) as Exceptional Talent and would like to share my application process. I hope it helps!
I’m originally from Moldova and have ~7 years of experience in Software Engineering. I’ve lived in London for the past 2 years on a Skilled Worker Visa. I’ve spent the last 4 years at a startup - joined as a Senior Software Engineer (with ~3 years of experience at the time) to help build the product from a POC to a B2C MVP, and later led the technical side of our shift to B2B. My application focused mainly on this experience. After our MVP launch, the company started my relocation process. The company provides recommendation-as-a-service (AI/ML). My position is Lead Integration Engineer (AI/ML).
Recommendation Letters:
- RL-1: CEO of a UK partner company. I led the integration process and helped increase their conversion rate. He confirmed this and noted we’re continuing the collaboration. (Last 1 year).
- RL-2: VP Engineering of another UK company. I worked remotely from Moldova as part of their extended team. He wrote how, despite being officially Mid-Level, I performed at Senior+ level, and they even tried to relocate and rehire me later. (~5 years ago, early career)
- RL-3: CTO of my current company. He described my progress and achievements across all 4 years.
Mandatory Criteria:
- MC-1: Leadership and Product Growth - Described how I led growth, with references to OC1/OC3/RL1. I also included a former CTO’s reference letter as external validation.
- MC-2: Early recognition by high salary - Demonstrated that my salary was significantly higher based on two angles: by years of experience and by job title. Included invoices, official confirmations, and public benchmarks.
- MC-3: Relocation + High Remuneration - Explained my UK relocation and showed that my salary was above local averages and how it will progress further.
- MC-4: Open source contribution - Based on Tech Nation guide, they expect significant impact to a project (like main contributor), I showed my contributions across several projects and demonstrating significance of that, including long-term activity on Stack Overflow (~500 rating, over 30K views on top answers). Highlighted that this was a consistent effort, not a one-time contribution.
Optional Criteria 1 – Innovation (OC1):
- OC1-1: Built production-ready system from POC - the first in the market using psychology for recommendations. Linked to a patent (CEO is patent holder), and she confirmed my key role.
- OC1-2: Led R&D work for our B2B system, which received HMRC R&D tax relief. I explained my contribution and included confirmation from the tax agency. I was unsure if this would work, but it turns out that R&D tax relief does count as proof of innovation. I quoted HMRC’s definition to support this: “Research and Development (R&D) tax relief supports companies that work on innovative projects in science and technology”.
Optional Criteria 2 - Significant Contribution (OC3):
- OC3-1: Internal project with diagrams, docs, GitHub screenshots showing I was main contributor. No reference letter - just multiple screenshots for validation from different systems, especially external one, where I do not have control.
- OC3-2: Described another tool I built (researched the issue by my initiative, build and improved), how it stood out from competitors, and how it helped with sales. Reference letter from Head of Growth confirming this.
- OC3-3: Integration work for enterprise client - focused on SLAs, performance under high load, and showing the company to a higher standard. Included screenshots of reports and document history as proof of authorship (google docs history, emails). (No reference letter)
CV:
Kept it similar to a regular job CV. Except it had 2 pages. Added hackathon results, school olympiads, and details about remote work. There are many good examples online, like: The Pragmatic Engineer's Resume Template - The Pragmatic Engineer
Personal Statement:
Most helpful tip: write it last. Summarise your evidence, highlight key strengths (but don’t repeat too much, just reference like OC-X/RL-Y/MC-Z), and explain why you’re switching from Skilled Worker to GTV (if you switch). That’s what I did.
Additional Notes:
- I was initially unsure about OC1 (Innovation) - it’s vague. I had no public talks or conferences, so OC2 wasn’t viable. Some advisors said they could “build a public presence in 3 months”, but I’d advise against that. Innovation is really about how you present and evidence your work. Don’t lie - but present it smartly.
- I spent weeks editing to avoid duplication across MC/OC1/OC3. Everything was from my current company, so I had to carefully break it down into distinct, meaningful pieces. It’s doable.
- Timeline: Created my application on 30 April at 23:55 (just before the 1 May deadline), uploaded drafts to Tech Nation, and submitted on 5 May. I saw updates on 12 May and 21 May. Got endorsed on 22 May at 11am.
- About signing reference letters - everyone is busy, so I helped my referees by reminding them of my key contributions and suggested they include measurable outcomes. They emailed me unsigned letters, and I used Dropbox Sign to get them signed (so signature flow is traceable). All letters were shared using my corporate email.
I hope this helps others going through the application. Big thanks to everyone on the forum who takes the time to answer questions - your replies really helped me. If you’re planning to post, I strongly recommend searching first - most common questions have already been answered in detail. Personally, I didn’t need to raise any new topics because I found almost everything I needed through existing threads.
. Thanks for sharing. You had solid recommendations. A good number of your evidence would have been considered as self authored by some Assessors. It is sometimes difficult to tell what will pass. In all I think your entire evidence portfolio must have been put into consideration. I think the part about saying why you are switching from skilled worker visa have been used as an excuse to punch holes in application especially for people who within time in the UK didn’t have external evidence to show how they contributed to the sector.
