Amazon's interview process was the most drawn-out, poorly organized, poorly communicated interview I've ever had, but I'd still suggest interviewing there. I won't go into too many details about myself, but I've interviewed with two other large tech firms, both of which treated me very professionally. Amazon's recruiter seemed extremely over-worked - a side you will come to find out Amazon seems to value in its DNA.
For whatever reason it took the recruiter a month to just schedule the first interview. The first phone interview was prompt, and relatively straight forward - UNIX internals, some networking, etc. At the end, they gave a take-home test with coding and such that was due in 24 hours. The next interview, they said, would be scheduled soon and use that.
Again the recruiter asked me for my availability and I gave him my schedule. Two or three weeks passed and I followed up with the recruiter about the interview. They didn't admit it, but I got the feeling it was a "oh crap - I forgot to schedule you" type reply. The second (which was supposed to be shortly after the first) was then scheduled.
The second interviewer was again timely and courteous and, just like the first, knowledgeable. However, since it had been some time since I did the test, I had to spend a decent amount of time remembering what I'd done on it. They seemed frustrated that it had been so long since the first interview.
After the second, I was offered to fly to Seattle to interview on-site, an offer I was humbled by. A large tech company of Amazon's stature wanted to invest in me to see if I was of their mettle. That's immensely cool.
Again - they asked me of my availability and scheduled the date for the interview. The travel company, they noted, would be contacting me shortly.
Four days later I still had not heard from the travel company so pinged my recruiter. I got their auto-reply that they were on vacation until the following week. This irritated me since one would think that if they have candidates about to fly across the country, they'd inform them of a scheduled vacation to be sure that the candidate didn't feel left out. You'd also think that the recruiter should ensure loose ends were tied down - small details like travel plans less than a week before the interview. Now concerned, I contacted their e-mail replacement who assured me that it would be handled. The next day I received travel plans - but it must have cost them dearly because it was only 4-5 days before the interview and I was flying across the country.
After that point, everything was perfectly smooth. I arrived in Seattle to a cold, rainy evening and spent the evening in my hotel reviewing and studying. The next day, I got a large carb-rich breakfast with good coffee and walked to the Amazon building. Seattle is freaking amazing. Love it there.
The on-site loop was the usual tech affair - 6-7 hours of 5-6 interviews with a lunch in between. The folks I interviewed with all took notes on my answers, and it was clear there was somewhat of a script for their questions - which makes sense. None of it was terribly challenging, but I fumbled a few cupcake questions (and ironically, I felt, did well on the deeper ones) so I wasn't surprised when they later told me I wasn't selected.
Over all, when compared to other large tech firms I've interviewed with, Amazon's recruitment process seems incredibly disorganized. Its employees were impressive and smart, but I actually considered calling the interview off before accepting the travel plans just because of how badly disorganized the recruiter was. In the end I figured I had nothing to lose and gave it my best.
However - I would have taken the job if offered. Their offices are quite nice but without many of the perks silicon valley firms have like free food. Their operations seemed impressive from what I saw, and the people were bright and kind. The work sounded challenging and demanding (good things). This is a great place to work, but I get the feeling they also exact a large toll on your life outside of work just simply due to the workload you get. Time and time I was told that they didn't feel pressure to work extra hours - that they just worked long hours because they loved it. However, that seemed a little hollow when held in comparison to the poor organization the recruiter seemed to exhibit.
You'd be silly not to interview with them if they offer you one - but definitely investigate if work/life balance is important to you. Maybe I just got spooked by a recruiter with poor time management, but I'm usually good at reading between the lines so my spidey sense is telling me that Amazon's drive for frugality extends to being very careful about hiring - which as we all know can translate to huge workloads. A good thing for someone wishing to improve their career, for sure!