Ask HN: How long does it take to get hired at Google?

I thought today about applying to work at Google based on recent comments that Google is on a hiring spree. However, I live in Silicon Valley and know other people that have applied to Google. I've heard the stories about how everybody fresh out of college applies to Google and the six month wait just for a phone interview.

For anybody else that's applied to Google, what's your opinion of the whole process?