I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Panda Express
Interview
I applied through the company website and was contacted a few days later to set up a phone interview, after the phone interview I was invited to go in for an in-person interview. I met with two different people within the department and ended the interview with meeting with HR. I was told there would be another interview as well and would be contacted within the week if they decided to move forward. I received an email after 1 week, that they decided to go with another candidate. The interview itself was surrounded more around the company culture. They asked more personality based questions rather than skill set. In general, the people there seemed very nice.
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Panda Express in May 2009
Interview
The process to get hired at Panda is ridiculously hard. There are books to read, forums to attend, and a whole "language" to learn before they would even consider putting you up to the owner for an interview. Went through about 7 interviews with 10 different people and the main focus was making sure you fit within the company's culture.