"Passion for the craft" refers to a general set of attributes, most often typified by an excitement for development, a desire to tinker, curiosity on how things

"Passion for the craft" refers to a general set of attributes, most often typified by an excitement for development, a desire to tinker, curiosity on how things work, and demonstration of sustained levels of these traits over a long period of time (e.g., years or decades). It's pretty easy to tell the difference between a candidate who genuinely loves coding and a candidate who just wants a job. And yes, we sometimes hire without even seeing any code from a given candidate. We have yet to be disappointed.