Yep, especially since the answer the the first question ("1. Why do you want to take this role?") is usually:
"you have work to do, and have the money, I can do the work, and want the money"
"you have work to do, and have the money, I can do the work, and want the money"
But I don't. So it is a transaction and you are one in hundreds of options I have over years. And you should also treat it like that.
Not enough to start my own company, but enough that the options leaning towards those will have the nod. You can be engaged without dedicating your life to it.
For those with not that strong convictions. Picking up reasonably interesting roles and fields where they have some skill coverage is entirely reasonable way to do things. Go for roles and companies you can be content with.
to give an example, i really love what valve is doing for gaming on linux. i would love to work for them. are you suggesting that i should start my own gaming company?
if i really like a company, i want to see that company succeed, not start another.
also, for myself, i really don't want to work for a company whose business i don't believe in. i would, if it was the only option, but if i have a choice then i prefer to work for a company whose business goals and practices i can agree with.
with startups in particular, there is also the issue that, if i don't believe in their business, that means i won't believe that they will be successful and then it doesn't make sense to work there.
But on another level, either because you're getting equity, or because you'd like to stay employed for a while, "believing" in the company is a shorthand for saying you think that the company is going to succeed, so that your equity is worth more, or so that you don't find yourself out of a job on someone else's schedule.
If it were not for the way to get medical benefits via employment, I would pursue a passion versus sit in front of a keyboard and type things up that will not exist in 6 months.
I doubt many plumbers cite a love of modern world development, when they get hired for fixing toilets, or that people assembling washing machines have a passion for clean clothes for other people... or even people working for google don't really have that much passion for collecting other peoples personal data and exploiting it to show ads.
By the way, this definitely doesn't mean to glorify an organization and what they're doing. Far from it. They're just in it for continued existence and making some money, I suppose. But it is nice if an organization has some social utility, as compared to, say, sell advertisements for crap no-one needs. And I think, if that's important to you, you can refer to that when you're applying for a job.
Of course, if you're working in a field where there's much more candidates than jobs, this is pretty meaningless because you have to take whatever comes your way.
there is a difference between the choice of profession and the choice of company after learning the profession.
above we were discussion which tech company to work for, because most of us here are in tech. but tech companies have a wide variety of business goals and practices.
plumbers not so much. they do plumbing. they all have the same business goal, the differences are where they operate and how nice the coworkers are and the work conditions and pay.
for a tech company it makes sense to ask, do i like their product, independent of the job i'll be doing there. for a plumber not really.
I saw a recent interview with the director of the world food bank. So jealous.
- Dave Chappelle