The Passion of the Code Monkey

A friend was telling me about a job interview she had recently for a software developer position with one of Silicon Valley's leading lights. "Tell me," the hiring manager asked her, "why you're passionate about this position."

Good thing I wasn't the one interviewing for the job, because my reponse might have gone something like this:

Passionate? Isn't it enough to find work that's challenging and interesting and fun, work for which we software engineers have developed highly specialized and technical skill sets, work on which we can put in a good day and feel that we've accomplished a little something, and work that we can put down at day's end in order to go home and have a life? Do we have to be "passionate" about it, too? We're building e-commerce applications, not painting the Sistine Fucking Chapel.

Here's my theory: "passion" has become the latest industry buzz-word. When a company wants you to be "passionate" about your job, it means they want you to work longer hours for lower pay and with less job security. It'll be okay when they take advantage of you, because when you're passionate about something, you do it for love and not for crass remuneration. And after they've spent your passion and downsize your position, leaving you with no severance and no prospects, it'll still be okay because you'll understand that they're also passionate, about serving the bottom line.

Don't fall for it, folks. Don't take the "passion" bait. Tell them why you'll be enthusiastic. Tell them why you'll be good at what you do. But also tell them that you're saving your passion for your personal life and that they'll just have to get by with your competence.