The study was devoted to the presentation of different ways to activate the unemployed in terms of increasing the competitiveness of the county. Considerations are discussed using the example of Ciechanów county. The aim of the study was to propose ways to support people out of work in the process of searching for it, which directly affects the competitiveness of the region, in this case, the Ciechanów county. In this work, it is assumed that an increase in the competitiveness of the county is affected by the district job centre in terms of activation of unemployed people. Issues associated with the activation of the unemployed have been presented on the basis of examination in district job centre in Ciechanów in 2013. The study has presented its activities carried out in order to help the unemployed to find work. On the basis of the studies one can conclude that the employment rate of people, who have benefited from various types of assistance offered by district job centre, was at a low level. It did not, however, show the ineffectiveness of these assistance variants. Low demand for workers (including those trained under district job centre) was due to a general decrease in the demand for labor from the entrepreneurs.