I applied through college or university. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Amazon (Boston, MA) in Jan 2013
Interview
2 times of 2 back to back interviews throughout 2 days. Decision made a few hours after the final interview and informed right away by HR. Most of interview questions were based on based on the prior backgrounds/experiences, including some behavioral questions.
I applied through other source. I interviewed at Amazon (San Diego, CA) in Aug 2015
Interview
I was selected through a hiring conference from my resume submission to a hiring conference that was sponsored by graduate associations. I did not receive any telephone interviews prior, but did attend a by-invite reception sponsored by Amazon at the job fair. For the interview, I was taken into a separate room by the hiring authority, then asked a few questions.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Hazleton, PA) in Aug 2015
Interview
I was referred to a recruiter by a friend. Process is very structured. First email I was sent a chart to fill out with basic qualifications to ensure I met them. Afterwards, I was sent a link to answer a case study question. After that, I was scheduled for an interview over the phone with a current site leader of a fulfillment center. He asked basic "tell me about a time when.." questions and went over my resume. About 2 days after that, I was told my interview went well and they wanted me to come in the following week to a fulfillment center for an in person interview. I could not make that so I was scheduled for an interview 2 weeks after that.
Before going to the onsite interview, I had to complete a writing sample and submit it to my recruiter. The onsite interview was held at a fulfillment center in PA for all openings in the NE (supposedly). I was in a group of 6 people, 3 of us interviewing for operations manager positions and 3 interviewing for area manager positions. Luckily we were not competing against each other. The onsite began with a 30 min tour of the facility and then followed up with a 15 min math question. After that, we each met with 4 people, 2 were senior operations managers, 1 was a HR manager, and one a site leader. It is very structured. Each interviewer has 3-4 standard "tell me about a time when..." questions for you to answer. Nothing too difficult, but definitely became somewhat redundant.
Received a phone call with an offer the following Monday, only to be told that the opening I applied for was no longer available and if I would be interested in a position at the facility I interviewed at or the one that the site leader who interviewed me worked at. Both were less than ideal and I felt that I had been misled slightly in the process.
Overall the process was very structured and professional. The recruiters kept in touch via email very well and I never felt like I didn't know the next step in the process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you had to think outside the box.