I was brought in through a recruiter who was full-filling permenant direct hire positions for them, so I'm not sure how the process when applying online. However, I still had to fill out the online application to get my background check and such completed. The initial phone screen was interesting. It was a quick 10 minute interview asking some simple comprehension questions about PHP and design concepts so I thought I failed, but I got a call a week or so later asking to complete a code sample. I completed that and it took about another 2 weeks but I asked to come in for an in-person interview. The in-person interview lasted about an hour and involved me demonstrating my understanding of PHP, MySQL, what I use and why, how resourceful I am (where do I go to be informed to new solutions/releases/etc...). I was asked about the difference between a left and right join, and some questions about my code sample I submitted. That same day I got a call back from the recruiter saying that they want to hire me. I accepted the same day (Thursday), filled out the paper work I needed and got my background check completed on Monday. Overall the process was more waiting than anything but worth it in the end.