We're growing within engineering at a steady pace here at ReadyTalk, so I've been experiencing the joy that comes with lots of interviewing. I know, you're probably thinking I'm delirious, but I've truly learned to appreciate a good interview. More on that in a moment. What I want to bring attention to is the common thread I've seen in every good candidate that I've talked to...and that is passion. I'm trying to understand or define this passion in my own terms. Is it a part of someone's personality type? Are there people out there who have absolutely no passion for anything in their professional or personal lives? I've been averaging an interview a day for the last several months for our engineering team, so I've seen the entire spectrum of passion.

One of the reasons I've been enjoying interviewing lately is probably because I'm genuinely interested in people. I want to know what motivates them, what makes them tick. These things feed directly into their passions (both professional and personal). And the challenging part of interviewing engineers is there are very few extroverted engineers out there; most that I've had the pleasure of working with tend to be shy and withdrawn, at least up to the point where you begin the build a relationship with them. So I've shifted my approach in interviewing to take the angle of relationship building. I want the candidate to open up and share with me the things they love doing, the technologies they love working with, the types of people that have helped motivate them in the past. Understanding these things is such a powerful tool when trying to put together amazing software engineering teams.

If you're one of those people who have found a passion for something and embraced it, then keep on keepin' on! If you're struggling, maybe take a step back and really give it some thought. Think about what you would do as a career (and more specifically what you would love doing day in and day out within a particular field) if money wasn't a factor. Ask yourself what you are truly passionate about, and when you find the answer, embrace it and let it drive you!

Me? I'm passionate about people and technology and weaving them together to create remarkable careers.

Jason Collins (aka JC) is the VP of Engineering at ReadyTalk and the self-appointed Chief Happiness Officer. He’s been either writing code or managing engineers for nearly 15 years and has a passion for technology and agile development practices. The happiness of the engineering team is his top priority and he can usually be found wearing a ReadyTalk cape and the infamous “idea helmet” around the office to help keep people motivated and entertained. When he’s not hanging out with his work family, he’s at home with his wife and four boys doing all sorts of geeky things, like playing video games and watching campy Sci-Fi and Action flicks.