I'm not sure how to tell the difference. As an interviewer, I'm decent at picking up subtle negative signals and there are people that I voted against that the

I'm not sure how to tell the difference. As an interviewer, I'm decent at picking up subtle negative signals and there are people that I voted against that the rest of the team said yes to. And I have a 100% record of them quitting/being managed out in less than a year. But, there are other people I was pretty neutral on that turned out to be awesome. So that means I need to get better at interviewing and finding positive signals. But I guess your comment about people who spend 9 weeks studying is exactly the people I'm not looking for. People who talk about how hard school was because they were "studying" all the time are the people who are working for the grade, not just doing stuff they love. I know that talent and interest are not evenly distributed in the population. And if you actually are good at something you're interested in it's also vanishingly rare that it's something someone will pay you for. So I'm not trying to make the "if you love what you do, you won't work a day in your life" argument. I'm just saying, that there are people who are interested in something, they're also talented and do good work, and it's something that someone will pay for. Those are the people I'm looking for. It's unfair, but true.