I applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Mar 2012
Interview
Completed an online assessment to get the onsite interview - apparently they are interested in different interview processes so it was not a traditional technical interview. I enjoyed it, was able to produce a lot of code over a full day of work and I thought it was a better platform to show your skills than a traditional technical interview.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Cape Town) in Mar 2012
Interview
The recruiter contacted me and organized a few phone screens with skilled engineers. There was about 10 days between interviews. They asked intensely difficult technical questions, but were friendly and supportive. Brush up on network protocols and hash tables! The next stage was 5 on-site 1:1 interviews of about an hour each. Very difficult! No offer yet...