I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Jul 2009
Interview
Got an email from HR to fill out questionaire for prescreen. Filled out questionaire consisting of past experience, view on company, etc. Initial Phone Interview scheduled about a week later by another Product Manager. Spent no time on Resume or behavioral questions, just went straight into brain teasers and hypothetical situations. Overall: quick interview to assess skills and ability, which was fine, but felt rushed.
Very self-driven, first of multiple rounds, where I had to take the initiative to arrive at the problem, constraints, approach, solutions, tradeoffs and reasoning behind it in a matter of 30 minutes.
You would have to do a hiring assessment first, then a recruiter screening follows. First round interview with the hiring manager. Majorly product sense and product improvement. The questions were not direct though.
Overall a lot of steps to the interview process. Talked to different people and had opportunities to ask questions. Many different stages which made it a lengthy process overall. Wasn't too bad.