No matter the structure of the interview, it will always come down to things we cannot control in the end. 1. You will have shit days and your brain will activ

No matter the structure of the interview, it will always come down to things we cannot control in the end. 1. You will have shit days and your brain will actively work against you, no matter how qualified you are for the job. If your interview happens to be on that day, well, it's just unfortunate. 2. Your interviewer also has shit days that actively work against them, no matter how many interviews they've given in the past to calibrate their expectations. If your interview happens to be on that day, well, just the one tiny slip-up, or mistake, or forgetting one simple test case, could mean they wrote you off, no matter how strong the rest of your interview went. When they leave feedback, it will frame your other interviews too. So yea, that's just unfortunate. 3. You were 1 day behind another candidate, who was interviewed and loved, after the company spent weeks searching for them. No matter how amazing you do, even hitting it out of the park, they likely already know they want the other person, and you are being interviewed as the backup should they reject the offer. All we can do, is keep at it, practice interviewing, keep studying and try to sleep well the night before. We can clean up our appearances too, looking like we care to be here. There's definitely a difference between someone who walks into an interview, looking smug and uninterested, versus someone passionate about the role and excited to be part of the mission of the company. Those are the things we can control. Hopefully, with enough preparation, luck and timing, you get the job.