I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Amazon (Riverside, CA) in Jan 2015
Interview
There was no interview all we did was watch a slideshow and take a drug test on the spot. Also we took pictures for a name badge and that was it process took about one hour there were about 50 people in the same room at one time hard to hear and take in notes lady who was instructing me was very rude she seemed like she had no experience and what she was doing as an interviewer
No interview at all, you go into the hiring center, take your drug test, fill out some preliminary paperwork, verify the building and schedule you want, your start date and that's it.
Not too bad pretty easy and straightforward, simple question surrounding handling and moving. Make sure you know basic safety rules as they will ask you, for example how do you carry heavy items.
Apply online, go to the on-site office for oral drug swab and ID picture. Start date is assigned once background check comes back. The actual start date will depend on how fast the check comes back but isn't normally delayed.