competing against others probably willing to sink more time Doesn't that kind of go towards the "who wants it more" mentality? What's wrong with that? Maybe

competing against others probably willing to sink more time Doesn't that kind of go towards the "who wants it more" mentality? What's wrong with that? Maybe you and someone else are equally good coders, or maybe one of you is clearly better. Either way, the only thing the company should care about with a salaried position is the finished product, not whether or not someone put more hours into it. I think people all too frequently discount effort and desire when interviewing. People focus on who has some very specific skill set and experience rather than "does this person really want to work here in this position"? Or "is this the type of person we want to work with"? You can work hard. You can work smart. You can be successful doing either, generally speaking. Do both, and you will usually be more successful than most others. Plus, if it was a position that you really wanted, I would think/hope that it would be something that you would find yourself spending more time than expected, on. I know I would if I was in that position. If I didn't really care about the position or the company, I would not try overly hard, and I assume that would show. Which is yet another reason I think companies probably should do more of this if anything, not less.