Yes, I do. I don't act genuine because when I'm my genuine self, I glare at everyone in the room with the rage of a thousand suns.
I don't know if people can tell that I'm hiding it or not, but when I try to hide and act enthusiastic, I get the job, when I don't, I don't.
Somewhere along the line, though, I learned to stop caring about pretending to be excited and just accept that a majority of companies won't hire me for what they perceive to be a lack of apathy. It's a pretty good filter for finding companies that I'd be happy working at, but I understand that it's not for everybody. I just hope for a much more genuine tech/otherwise community so that I don't have to pretend anymore. Pretending just feels like shit.
I'm not saying any of this under any financial comfort. I'm friggin' broke right now. Though, I'm much more content with myself, my quality of work has skyrocketed and I've learned to bulk cook a mean chicken thigh and lentil soup.
I gave up at that one. People told me, "find a job you enjoy" but I think it's a lie. No one pays you to enjoy yourself. I haven't found a job to make me happy. Maybe someone found that kind of job but I didn't.
So now I find a job, work for a couple years, then quit and take months off at a time. I use the money I earned to fund my travels, which I enjoy. And sometimes at work, I look back at something I built, and the feeling of having built something is a really great feeling (even if no one cares about that thing). Then I go back to glaring at my coworkers.
If you're ever in Chicago, hit me up and we can grab some drinks.
That seems like a reasonable interpretation, emphasized by when he got through all the programming questions without a problem, and still didn't get the job.
One thing I've found when I'm interviewing, I try to be enthusiastic and act like I really want to work at the company, even when it's a boring company. Attitude makes a huge difference.