I can always tell the difference when someone is legitimately passionate about what they are doing, versus someone who clearly only sees it as a means to get by.
A nice example is I recently had my carpet cleaned.
Two peculiar men came out to tackle the carpet in my home, and I was casually observing them both. The difference between this was astounding. On a single hand, I had a single guy practically racing to get done, skipping many peculiar spots while he was at it. On the other hand, the other guy was taking his sweet time, making sure to go over any stains and spot check as well. I could tell the minute guy cared about his job, the first guy just wanted to be done. I have also noticed this between heating and cooling system workers. The first Heating and A/C supplier I called sent out a Heating and A/C tech who couldn’t have been more bored even if he tried… He brushed off many of my questions and seemed to look in any other direction except my central cooling system. I truthfully wonder how he got any work done. Then the minute guy was an independent cooling system supplier. This guy I could tell loved what he was doing. He not only spent a nice 10 minutes explaining the entire process of Heating and A/C repair and tune ups, however also was unquestionably thorough and careful when examining my cooling system and furnace system. The difference was clear as day, and I certainly enjoy the a singles who care. It is those people that I will be going back to.