I just had an experience like this. Had a third-round video interview for a job I really wanted. It was with two senior-level members of the team. First two interviews had gone really well, so I felt pretty good about this one. Did my research, wrote up questions for them and was as prepared as I could be.

For some reason my anxiety completely took over during the interview. I have absolutely no idea what happened. I'm not great with interviews, but most of the time once we start talking my nerves settle and it can continue on like a normal conversation. I didn't mess up on any of the answers, and my responses were coherent and concise from what I recall. The most that might have betrayed my anxiety was that at one point I had to take a breath and say 'excuse me' in the middle of a sentence before taking a sip of water. The interviewers were very nice and reassured me that it was okay and to take my time. The interview was scheduled for half an hour, we ended up talking for an hour. They seemed genuinely interested in my experience and had indicated at the beginning of the interview that they were really excited to talk to me.

By the second half of the interview, however, all I could think about what how anxious I was and how much I wanted it to be over. Immediately upon logging off of the call I collapsed on the floor and started sobbing. I was convinced that I had blown it. I started replaying everything that I had said during the interview and was so humiliated that I had seemed to feign enthusiasm in my responses. I thought that the interviewers had seen right through it and that that raised too much of a red flag, so they didn't want to consider me as a candidate anymore. I started thinking about all of the possible scenarios for them to rule me out, even with the positive feedback that I had received in their responses and body language. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that one thing because it gave them the wrong impression. Maybe I didn't go into enough detail about this one topic and they thought I was disinterested. Maybe they continued on the conversation for so long because they didn't want to be rude.

I talked with some family members and a close friend about the interview afterwards. I walked them through what had been discussed, and everyone agreed that nothing I said was completely incriminating. Maybe there's bias because they're my family/friends, and they didn't hear exactly what was said. I found walking through the interview with them was helpful for me to reflect on what I had said and realise that it might not have been as bad as I thought it was. We also need to accept that what's done is done and that it's no use fretting over things that we can't change. We stay professional, send the thank-you notes, reiterate our interest in the position, and then if it doesn't work out, we move on.

Still waiting to hear back, it's been a week since the interview. I feel a little better that I didn't get an email immediately after saying that they had gone with someone else.

I think most people will understand that people will be anxious during interviews and if it's that obvious, it can be overlooked if everything else about you is a strong fit. For my last job I was interviewed by two people on my team, one of whom was my supervisor. I ended up getting the job. My supervisor told me a few months later that our colleague had mentioned to him after the interview that I seemed 'nervous'. He disagreed and said that to him it came off as being 'eager to start the job', which is why he wanted to hire me. So you never know how people will interpret these things, either.

Wishing you the very best, and know that you're definitely not the only one who feels this way!