I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at C3 AI (San Francisco, CA) in May 2018
Interview
I was referred by a friend and received an email from the recruiter about a week and a half later for a phone screen.
After clearing the phone screen, I had a call with a director from the Sales team. The questions were mostly behavioral (background, why C3 IoT, my experience, etc.) but she did ask a lot of questions to make sure I understood what the company does and how they work.
I then moved on to the next round, which was a timed writing exam (given my a member of the strategy team). I had to create an outline for a response to a proposal, draft a 300-word proposal, and then edit a few paragraphs of marketing material. It took me the full hour but it was fairly easy.
After I submitted the exercise, I followed up twice and finally got a response a week and a half later saying everything was going really well and everyone on the team had approved and they were waiting for a VP to review who was traveling. I followed up again, twice, and heard nothing back and finally got a generic robo rejection email.
I don't mind being rejected but please don't tell me everything is going well and then ignoring me for two weeks and rejecting me right after with no feedback. Very unprofessional in my opinion.
Another thing to note, this role is 90% focused on writing proposals with no real strategy work so don't be mislead by the title. The company is really cool and the salary is good but the role may not be what you are looking for.
Thanks for your comments. We have interviewed over 1700 candidates in the last 12 months – and the majority of them have had a positive, challenging, and rewarding interview experience. We recognize your experience was not positive – we will focus on improving our process. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors.
Other Strategy Associate Interview Reviews for C3 AI
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at C3 AI (Redwood City, CA)
Interview
Recruiter Screen > Manager Interview > Take Home Written Exam > Director Interview > 1st Cross Functional Stakeholder Interview > 2nd Cross Functional Stakeholder Interview > Onsite lunch with the team
The process has evolved / changed since I've done it. Some portion of the latter interviews are now pushed in person.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why C3 AI
Why this role
Do you know how our reporting structure works? Whiteboard it.
Do you know how our approval process for our projects flows? Whiteboard it.
I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at C3 AI in Feb 2025
Interview
The interview process is structured in the following way:
No recruiter screen
Hiring manager screen
Take-home Assignment
Panel round interviews (3)
Final round
While the people that I met throughout the process were great, there were times when certain parts of the process fell through the cracks due to a lot of it being automated. It was difficult to get a prompt response from your "recruiter" who I never spoke to other than email communication. The timelines weren't very clear even after I had attended an on-site panel interview, and there was no follow-up that they had mentioned from their side.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How did you manage multiple workstreams with conflicting priorities under tight deadlines?
I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at C3 AI in Apr 2022
Interview
After 3-4 weeks, I received an interview call after applying directly on their website. The following are the steps of the interview:
1. Screening resumes with a team member
2. Writing Assessment
3. Panel Discussion (with 3 team members)
4. Hiring Manager
I have to keep in touch with them at all times after each stage. After the resume screening, the entire procedure took over 10 weeks. Even after all of this, the recruiting manager had no idea what was happening with the interview.
After my interview with the hiring manager, I received a standard email stating that they are unable to move forward with my application. When I requested for feedback, I learned that the hiring manager was unaware of my application's status. He requested that I wait two to five days for a final determination.
As a company, they should be empathetic to an applicant who has spent a significant amount of time interviewing with them. They should provide a feedback or proper reason for rejection. Interviewing a large number of candidates is used as an excuse to be not able to provide a small feedback to an applicant.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Behavioural questions
My opinion about AI and its application in various industry