JOB SEARCH TECHNIQUES? OR HAS THE CIRCUS COME TO TOWN?

As the job situation becomes more desperate, so the job search techniques become more outlandish. Whilst personal branding and networking have now become established and successful methods to seek out opportunities in the hidden job market, is parading the streets wearing a sandwich board likely to catch on?
This was the approach taken by a couple of despondent jobseekers, one of whom spent a week handing out his resumes on the corner of 50th and Park Avenue to further his pursuit of a job on Wall Street during the summer of last year. Another young lady shelled out $1200 to rent a billboard, whilst 25 year-old Nathan Schwagler posed as a deliveryman carrying a bunch of sunflowers and a clipboard in order to deliver his resume to a recruiter. Rather than the telephone call to invite him for the job interview that he had hoped for, the unfortunate Mr Schwagler was instead rewarded for his efforts by a call from the firm’s head of security warning him not to set foot on the premises again.
Others have turned to financial incentives to help in their job hunt. One inventive young man started a chain e-mail to his friends and family, with his resume and job search objectives attached. Not only did he add a request that they forward the message to everyone they knew, but he even offered a monetary prize to the person who helped him land a job in the field that he was interested in. The e-mail apparently moved quickly through cyberspace, and it only took for one friend to forward it on before he got the referral he needed.
Clearly then, some of these more unusual techniques do work but, in a climate where we are all being told that we need to stand out to be successful, are we taking things too far, and what do most employers think of these kinds of tactics?
Researching companies, tailoring your approach to them and providing a superlative resume are still believed to be the best approaches according to most ‘traditionalists’, and the general consensus of opinion appears to be that having your contact details printed on a tee shirt, or riding the elevator until the hiring manager notices you, are simply unprofessional.
Bearing in mind that employers are only really interested in what it is that we can do for them, specifically in terms of how we can make or save them money, it is easy to see why our more creative efforts can sometimes go awry.
What is the most unusual technique that you have used to look for a job? Did it work, or were you too given your marching orders by the head of security?