As someone who has put passion(ate) in job listings, I absolutely wanted people who were passionate about this field. I was less interested in the people who did comp. sci because their guidance counselor told them it was going to be a hot field, instead targeting those who were probably programming as a child.
People who have an internal drive that you simply can't fake. Who build great stuff, and keep up on trends and technologies, because they feed on it. There is no faking it, and many simply don't fit this mold at all.
But it isn't all upside. Those same people will seldom write documentation. They'll gloss over things they think aren't important. If you have to build something that you know is wrong, or that will go unused, they will have so much inner turmoil they'll almost certainly sabotage the project. They'll probably pull your projects in directions you don't want, and might use techniques and technologies that are interesting and fun but aren't necessary if even appropriate for the current need.
You need to balance it all. But anyone saying that there is no such thing as passion in this field, or that there is set that has it and another that doesn't, is living with delusion. It is very, very real.
It's kind of hard not to be cynical when 95%+ of job adverts in all industries have the same 5 buzzwords in them. I mean, if the guy/girl in Subway is supposed to be 'passionate about great customer service', when it's manifestly implausible that anyone is (EDIT: put too strongly, I do know people who just love pulling pints in a pub, but whatever), how am I supposed to take seriously any ad that uses a word that's been reduced to complete banality? It's the (ab)use of passionate in job ads that's truly cynical, and of course it leaves job-hunters no option except to view the matter cynically.
I agree with whoever it was who said that it's not so much about actually getting passionate people, but more a test of how ready you are to eat shit and be compliant. So when you say:
> As someone who has put passion(ate) in job listings, I absolutely wanted people who were passionate about this field.
I have to ask: well, did you actually get more of that kind of person when you put 'passionate' in the job ad than you would otherwise? I'm genuinely curious, because - having spent some time in the dole queue in recent years - I can't imagine anyone responding sincerely to a clause like that in a job ad.
We aren't talking about sandwich shop ads. We're talking about software development ads: a generally high compensation, very flexible, and huge variability of skills career. And the truth is that the majority of ads do not have it in them.
Most ads list educational requirements, a list of required technologies, and give you a contact number.
But those ads that do...boy do they burn the asses of people who feel excluded. Those people are the ones who'll declare bombastically that those employers will never get candidates, it's a warning sign, etc.
It's just self-comforting blather.
Can I say whether I got "more" of those types of people by putting it in an ad? No, I can't, as I didn't do controls so I have no basis of comparison. But essentially it was an attempt to save everyone some time -- include the unsuitable candidates -- and to exclude those people who, when asked how they keep on top of emerging trends and techniques, have no answer (shockingly common, and an immediate no hire). The same is true of various other seemingly decorative words that so offend so many: If an ad says that you need to be a JavaScript "ninja", and you know just enough to kind of decorate up an ASP.NET page, you know maybe save everyone some time and don't apply? Yet some people still do, and then they write the "Your JavaScript tests are bullshit!" blog post that sees a million seal claps on social media.
As someone who has put passion(ate) in job listings, I absolutely wanted people who were passionate about this field. I was less interested in the people who did comp. sci because their guidance counselor told them it was going to be a hot field, instead targeting those who were probably programming as a child.
People who have an internal drive that you simply can't fake. Who build great stuff, and keep up on trends and technologies, because they feed on it. There is no faking it, and many simply don't fit this mold at all.
But it isn't all upside. Those same people will seldom write documentation. They'll gloss over things they think aren't important. If you have to build something that you know is wrong, or that will go unused, they will have so much inner turmoil they'll almost certainly sabotage the project. They'll probably pull your projects in directions you don't want, and might use techniques and technologies that are interesting and fun but aren't necessary if even appropriate for the current need.
You need to balance it all. But anyone saying that there is no such thing as passion in this field, or that there is set that has it and another that doesn't, is living with delusion. It is very, very real.