Hey.. it's been a while!

It's a shame the BMW position fell through. Hopefully there are some other positions in a similar role without having to relocate too far. I know that a lot of companies are on a hiring freeze regardless of whether they are conducting layoffs or not (that is what my company is currently doing with a few exceptions). Keep applying though, and make sure to follow up with the companies you apply to so you stay on their radar when they do open up again.

If you are going the project management route, I would suggest looking into getting started in a role as a lower level manager first (in a somewhat technical capacity). In the IT field, learning some agile methodology such as Scrum or SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) will do you wonders for getting into a management role. Take note that you may also want to find your niche in some sort of IT technical role before you get into IT project management. Depending on the company it can be difficult to get into a management role, especially a project management role, without either prior management experience or real-world technical experience (defined as a paid role in some hands-on technical work such as programming). I'm definitely not saying it's impossible; you proved it's possible with the BMW interview. Just make sure the keep your doors open in case you need to take the longer path to get there.

Regardless of which route you take, good luck getting where you want to be! IT is a field that will probably continue to grow until AI starts programming itself, at which point humans will not have jobs anymore :)

I feel like I totally know where you're coming from, since I too have a Comp Sci degree but felt that my programming skills coming out of college were pretty poor.

I ended up going into the support side of IT to be a system and network administrator.

One thing I found about interviews is that they're a crap shoot, and so much depends on the person you interview with. I applied for one job as a system and network administrator that required security clearance at a small company, and the person I interviewed with - the co-owner of the company - hit it off from the start. I was nervous because I got stuck in traffic and ended up being 45 minutes late, but they were very understanding, the interview felt really comfortable and casual, he was really impressed with my skills, the two owners took me out to lunch afterwards, and it was just a really pleasant experience. I got an offer from them right away.

Unfortunately, I had to move and I couldn't accept the position. So I interviewed for a junior system administrator position at a college, and it was a completely different experience. The network administrator at the college started grilling me on my networking skills, when I wasn't even interviewing for a network admin position, and it was obvious that she was completely unimpressed by my answers. I did not get that position.

Interviews are such a random event. At my last job, what I considered the least impressive thing on my resume was actually the thing that caught their attention and got me an interview. I later learned I was one of 300 applicants for that position. It feels like you just have to try and try until you get lucky, just like SG. :)