CNA Corporation Research Analyst Interview Questions
& Process

First, there was a 30-minute phone chat with the recruiter. Then, I had a full day onsite at Arlington, VA. It was packed with seven interviews with division and program leaders, plus a 40-minute presentation. After that, we had a social event with more team members at a nearby restaurant/bar. I thought the day would be really tiring, but everyone was so welcoming and supportive. It felt like a great environment, and even though I didn't know much about the company beforehand, I really liked the culture and the people by the end of the day.

Got an email for a screening interview from HR a few months after applying, which HR admitted was a bit late. I replied with availability, but didn't hear back for about 2 weeks until another HR person contacted me after someone tried calling me. They wanted to interview the next day, which was weird given they asked for availability weeks prior. The HR person was late and had bad call quality. She read a job description I didn't apply for and asked generic 'tell me about a time' questions, but interrupted me after 20 seconds to summarize into one sentence. She said I passed to the next round. Later that day, I got a call about my name change, but I missed it due to the earlier screening and sent an email with forms and explanation. I didn't hear back until I followed up twice weeks later, and the interviewer only responded when I CC'd the original contact. The interviewer seemed supervised by the first contact, whose tone was professional, unlike this one. The interviewer didn't know about the company benefits or what the company/role does. Based on the emails, I shouldn't have continued. Also, the pay is $80k-$90k, which might be tight for a single person in that area.

So, first there was a recruiter call, then a 30-minute technical call. The final stage was a 4-hour onsite interview. It started with a 45-minute chat with the directors of research, then a 30-45 minute presentation. You can present your thesis or a class project, anything data science related, they were cool with my PhD thesis in theoretical math and me presenting a class project instead. Just be ready for some tough questions. After that, I had lunch with an employee and then a 30-minute meeting with the VP. They gave me a fair shot and everyone was nice and helpful. Got the offer the next day.