DENVER -- With Denver's jobless rate climbing, it's getting harder to stand out as a prospective employee.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday that 10 metro area counties had a June unemployment rate of 7.9 percent, up from 7.5 percent in May.

And gimmicks are up, such as wearing a sign around your neck reading "College grad, need a job, please take my resume."

According to the Denver Post, that’s what Gregory Fisher, 23, a recent grad of Arizona State University, tried Wednesday out in front of Republic Plaza on the 16th Street Mall.

Creative may seem funny, but it falls flat with most respondents to a February 2008 study by The Creative Group. In fact, 52 percent of marketing executives and 26 percent of advertising executives said unusual job hunting tactics are unprofessional.

The national study surveyed 250 advertising and marketing managers and found only 2 percent of the marketing managers and 8 percent of the advertising managers felt that gimmicks -- like sending a resume in a shoe to "get a foot in the door" -- would actually help the candidate's chances of getting hired.

"One person sent an egg carton with faux eggs and a message saying she 'delivered fresh ideas daily,'" said one of the survey respondents.

"One person put up posters of himself in the garage where the executive parked," said another.

"It's understandable for candidates who aren't having luck with traditional job search methods to try more creative ways to get noticed,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam “While unconventional methods can be hit or miss, one surefire way to stand out is by going the extra mile to showcase your skill set, professionalism and enthusiasm for the position.”

In another survey conducted earlier this month with 250 randomly chosen senior executives at the 1,000 largest companies in the U.S. and Canada a few more conventional tactics were cited as standouts:

"People who take the time to research the company, do their homework and follow up on their ideas."

"Receiving handwritten thank you notes as opposed to e-mail."

"People are dressing up more than they did in the past."

"Someone came to the office without an appointment to see me personally and drop off his resume. Nobody has ever done that in the past."

"Using a good reference -- I swear by references, so that's very important."

"The job seeker turned the table and wanted to know all about me. The tactic worked."

And competition is intense now.

“There certainly is a more diverse candidate pool," said Karen Policastro, regional VP of Robert Half International, which owns the Creative Group. "We have candidates with 20-plus years of experience. We’re continuing to see candidates laid off recently as well as those laid 8 months ago."

Still, Policastro said that doesn't mean a job search is destined to be a waste of time.

"Companies right now are taking advantage of this market. For example, they’ll hire professionals today who they may not have had access to a year ago. So keep up the search. Health care is still an area where jobs can be found quickly. Also layoffs there have been minimal. Credit and collections are both very strong sectors," Policastro said.