@JaredBusch
I have no less than 10 user/pass on sticky notes around my desk, LOL, half of them say "root" or "admin".
Never fear though, they are mostly just things I'm testing or internal VMs.
My boss demands I keep our most important passwords in a black binder on my desk, not kidding.
*looking at pictures for any sticky notes with passwords on them*
All that sounds just wonderful to me!
Speaking of "researching companies", I don't know enough about what you do except that you're a service provider. It sounds like you don't service just one location though. You talk about flip flops in the office, but you don't hire locally? Do you all work remotely? Are the services you provide all cloud?
The reason I'm asking is now I'm more curious about your idea of "passion". You wrap a lot of passion in the idea of people fidgeting with a home lab. You reject most other options. If the best definition of "passion" is that the person loves doing tech just as much on hours as off hours, I think I do.
Before I was married with kids, most days I'd come home from work and end up at a LAN party, gaming, programming, or rebuilding computers, etc. It would be Christmas if someone wanted to dump their old router or something, yeah I can try dd-wrt!
With family, I still want to retreat in the office and fiddle with stuff all night, but just can't spend my time that way. Wife doesn't want computers set up all over the house and CAT-5 running all over the floors. But it doesn't mean I don't have that desire to keep doing tech and learning things and tinkering at home.
Anyway based on your description of an ideal candidate, I'd say it fits me. I don't mind the "on call" nature of working in IT, after all things can break at any time and businesses expect to be back up as fast as possible, it's a given. What I don't like is the pressure of the time frame when it happens. What if I happen to be camping with the family and we just hopped on a boat? The only option is 1) stop everything and run to a hot spot or where I can get a signal etc or 2) declare 'welp I can get to that in about 6 hours or 3) I don't know what else? I know I won't be able to enjoy the boat any more knowing I've got an issue hanging over me.
One time we had an issue that started at about 3am, some sites were defaced and the index file replaced. My phone just happened to have died or something, not on charger, and I slept in (on a Sunday). Well by the time I was aware of the problem and had it fixed an hour later, I got chewed out and blackmarked for not having fast enough turnaround time on my time off (I'm the only tech).
I'm okay with the idea of keeping a phone around most of the time, and doing some work when it's needed. But I'm not ok with the idea that if there is no signal or the phone dies or I'm in a movie theater and don't answer for a couple hours, that my head will be on the chopping block.
Anyway, do you hire in Arizona by chance 
@scottalanmiller said in Would You Hire Someone in IT Who Does Not Have a Home Lab:
No one is saying that it is the only factor or that you have to have one for every role anywhere. But when you are looking to hire someone passionate, what would you consider a good alternative indicator?
To be honest, I don't know!
It would be nice if the candidate already studied the company, knows what it's about and what it does, and expresses desire to work in this exact environment and position.
That would be opposed to the candidate who seems to have blasted out generic resumes to as many people as possible to see what sticks.
Another sign of passion might be work history. Where are the coming from and why? Are they looking for a new job just for a raise? Or because they are currently not in the exact industry they want? I would think it's a small sign of passion if they are willing to uproot and change jobs for maybe equal to barely more wage just because they want the different work.
If all they want is money, the work won't matter as much. But if they really want the work, money won't be their top priority, but rather opportunity and training in the field.
I had an interview once where they gave me a screwdriver and sent me a table full of random devices and just said "have fun, tell us what you see". They wanted to watch as I figured out what each device was and if I knew my stuff and how interested I was in each piece, etc. Did I "enjoy" fiddling with lots of different tech, etc.
And maybe one last one. Just shy of a full home lab and datacenter, you can simply ask them what they are learning or doing in their spare time.
I would think most people don't spend a ton of time trying to learn things that don't apply to their job. But on the flip side if my job is sitting at a desk working with spreadsheets, but I spend reasonable personal time studying mobile app development (home lab or not) it shows my interest/passion in said field.
I don't personally need a home lab for the stuff I work on in my spare time. Just a few programs and the odd VM spun up. But to be fair that's web dev and not classic IT.