**I am a member of the Career Collective, a group of  resume writers and career coaches. Each month, all members discuss a certain topic.  This month, in honor of April Fool’s Day, we are talking about how we fool ourselves about the job search and/or being tricked by common job search blunders. Please follow our tweets on Twitter #careercollective

Unless you are independently wealthy, you’ll be on the job hunt at some point in your life. If you’re lucky, you won’t find yourself looking for a job very often. That also means that when you are seeking a job, you might be out of practice. It’s also possible that you may be inadvertently doing things to sabotage yourself while job hunting. Take a look at some of the common lies people tell themselves about their job search, and how you can avoid them.

I can wait a few weeks to look for a job. I have money saved up.

This is a very dangerous job hunting mistake, mostly because it’s a slippery slope. It starts off as a few days of rest, and then a week. One week of sitting at home turns into two, and before you know it, you find that you’ve lost the motivation to look for a good job. Maybe you’ve gotten accustomed to sleeping in, or perhaps you’ve moved in with a relative who is allowing you to mooch without demanding payment. Whatever the reason, this can quickly lead to depression, and worse, the longer the amount of time that lapses from one job to another, the more potential employers want to know why you weren’t working. Do yourself a favor, and start looking immediately.

My Resume is just fine – I don’t need to re-do it.

If you’ve sent in your resume to multiple places, and you haven’t gotten a response, it’s probably time to tweak it. Add new experiences, play with the format, or have a professional resume written for you. Ideally, you really should be tweaking your resume every single time you send it out. It should always reflect the job you’re applying for, and it should also use the keywords that were in the job posting.

I don’t need to look for a job every day.

Yes you do. You should be treating your job hunt as a 9-5 job. There are several reasons for this. First, by waking up early every day, networking, visiting businesses, dropping off and printing resumes, and scanning the job listings, you’re setting up a good schedule and work ethic so that you never get out of the habit of working hard. It’s also important, because if a month later you still haven’t found something, you know it won’t be because you aren’t trying. That can help stave off joblessness depression.

I can do all my job hunting online.

While the internet is a huge resource for finding a job, it’s certainly not the only one. If fact, the best way to find a job is to get a face to face meeting with someone. Dress in your best every day, and while you’re not scanning online job listings, you should be on the road. Visit every company you think you’d like to work in, and have a chat with whoever is at the front desk. Explain that you’re a skilled person at doing whatever it is you do, and ask politely to see the HR manager, or hiring director. If you’re not allowed to meet with them, leave your resume, along with a handwritten note saying that you dropped by, and you’d love to have a chat with them about filling any needs the company has.

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The April, 2010, Career Collective Links

10 Ways to Tell if Your Job Search is a Joke, @careerealism

April Fool’s Day – Who’s Fooling Who?, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

If It’s Not You and It’s Not True, You’re Fooling Yourself, @GayleHoward

Don’t Kid Yourself! (The Person You See in the Mirror is a Good Hire), @chandlee

Avoiding the Most Common Blunder, @jobhuntorg

Are you fooling yourself? Bored at work? Is it your own fault?, @keppie_careers

Hey, Job Seeker — Don’t Be a Fool!, @resumeservice

Job Search Is No Joking Matter,  @careersherpa

Is Your #Career in Recovery or Retreat? (All Joking Aside), @KCCareerCoach

9 Ways You Might Be Fooling Yourself About Your Job Search, @heatherhuhman

Don’t get tricked by these 3 job search blunders, @LaurieBerenson

Trying to hard to be nobody’s fool?,  @WorkWithIllness

It’s not all about you, @DawnBugni

Mirror ‘their’ needs, not ‘your’ wants in #jobsearch, @ValueIntoWords

Stop Fooling Yourself about your Job Hunt: Things you may be doing to sabotage yourself – @erinkennedycprw

Same as it ever was – @walterakana

Don’t be fooled. Avoid these – @kat_hansen

Job Seekers: You Are Fooling Yourself If...@barbarasafani