fwiw I’ve lied about passion (for their mission) at every company I worked at until I could qualify as an accredited investor via income test and buy preferred shares in any company instead of earning common stock gambles over years at whichever silly startup hired me

I was passionate about specific frameworks, corroborable years of experience, and making sure I occassionally had at least 2 years of experience at one place

But I would lie about my interest in their mission or whatever these culty developer daycares were up to, for the compensation boost and sustaining that.

(Yes I eventually got lawyers and CPAs to validate my accredited investor status, and eventually learned what “self certification” really meant)

It was super strange to me that feigning passion was the gatekeeper instead of simple work integrity.

Anyway it worked. Priorities. If I was a betting man - which I am - I’d bet you’ve run into people like me.