"If I had at least one or two offers I might believe them, but can the system be so wrong as to consistently overlook a good developer even if they are bad at interviews?"
...yes, yes it can.
...yes, yes it can.
Also my naïve impression is that the market is pretty flooded right now with candidates with impressive-looking credentials (i.e. ex-FAANG employees) from numerous large layoffs, so I wouldn't be surprised if getting a job right now is more challenging than it was a year ago. I have heard anecdotally though that there's still abundant opportunity, but I'm not sure how that nets out. Maybe it just means that the top tier, most desirable jobs are super hard to get right now, but everything below that is pretty much the same? I'd be curious to hear other folks experiences.
Interviews aren’t about accepting the first candidate who is qualified enough. Interviews are about interviewing a number of the best applicants and choosing the best one for the job.
You can be a great candidate, but if someone else is an even better candidate then you’re not getting the offer (unless the better candidate declines).
We really need to break this myth that interviews are a 1:1 challenge between the company and a single candidate.
I've also had companies be open about it the other way - they liked me a lot, I had most of the experience they were looking for, but someone else came along and had all of the boxes checked for them, and thus would probably be able to require a lot less ramp-up time than I would, even if we would have probably both been fine in the role within 6 months. I can't blame them for that.