I also work in the same sector as you, although nowhere near as much experience. It's a minefield out there at the moment, too many people applying for one job.
As for interviews, truth doesn't prevail in them. They'd rather hire someone with the gift of the gab who tells bullshit stories that never happened, rather than someone who is honest and speaks from the heart. The strangest advice I ever got was that if I'm ever stuck on a competency question where they ask for an example of a situation and I don't have one, make something up.
I'm guessing here, but getting a lot of interviews, even for positions you aren't interested in would be worthwhile. You get to hear the kind of situations they'll throw at you so you can prepare for next time (chances are as you are in hte lift on the way out , you think, hell yeah I did that when...). And you can practice making shite up for the few you can't bring that are relevant. Sometimes it might be from outside a work setting.
I'm sure chatgpt , the internet is awash with typical situation questions. Being able to judge the person/peoples asking the questions quickly helps . If you can build rapport with them and answer in an engaging way, they'll probably not actually listen to your reply. Think how Bojo / Trump got their jobs....
--edit-- which reminds me, I always intended to do one interview a year. Partly to see what's out there, partly to keep on top of what skills are in demand. And all of the above. I'm not in PM though, more of a general all round developer, trying to specialise in Excel,but having to do SQL and basic 'web' front ends...
-edit 2 -- a good recruitment agent is worth finding too. They'll know the kinds of questions and will know the exact questions from previous candidates with a specific role.
--edit 3-- and sometimes you interview for one position, but another comes up and they've done the groundwork already. Just don't apply to be PM for BMD.
