On the road?

I've been keeping myself occupied with a combination of work around the home and some job related activities. The work around the home is more physically demanding than hitting the computer and phones to reach out to opportunities. I think sometimes I use the physical work as an excuse not to make that uncomfortable marketing (networking) call I know I should make. It's still hard for me to contact people to tell them about my situation and to ask them for help or advice. I'd better get over this soon as the market is looking more and more barren.

A few recent things:

• A couple of reach outs to people I used to work with on behalf of folks I've met at my outplacement group. One of them finally returned my call.
• Research on the education requirements for the PMP exam.
• A few on-line applications.
• A conversation about a job for which I wasn't really qualified. And I'm not sad about that since the job was in Springfield MA and I haven't considered relocation, yet.
• A second phone screen for my "perfect" local job
• A phone interview (tomorrow) for a consulting job that would have me travel 50 percent of the time.

It's that last item that has me thinking. I have had jobs where I've done some travel, but it was mostly to the home office. At one point, I was actually living away from home each week. This went on for about 9 months and it was at a time when my kids were young. It put enough stress on me and my family that I found myself another home office assignment with less travel. But things are different now. Jobs are scarce. My kids are grown and on their own. My wife has a career. I'm mostly worried about my dog. He's gotten used to having me around.