I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Amazon (Boston, MA) in Jan 2013
Interview
I applied for one of their East Coast jobs; got a reply back from one of their recruiters pretty quickly. She then sent me an email with detailed instructions on their phone screen process.
For those that haven't gone through that experience, I'll summarize: they like to do "online white-boarding" sessions. That means you have to be near your computer, with online access to Collabedit. Also get ready to get grilled! This approach is convenient for them, but I'm a bit old-fashioned and prefer the in-person feel of an actual whiteboard.
Anyway, I decided to just through their hoop, since my work commute is very short. I was to expect their call at 9:30 am...9:45...10am...and NO CALL! I let the HR gal know...and she didn't call me back to reschedule.
So Amazon, it's perfectly for you to expect me to hold up my life and work, just so you can flake on me?
So, if you want to work there, go right ahead..but methinks they think of themselves too highly! There are companies out there with less onerous hiring processes.