Have you been trying to penetrate the senior and upper management but there are no current positions open? Or have you tried to apply for one but didn't get it because you're not tenured enough? According to Liz Ryan, the CEO and founder of Human Workplace, you may be doing it wrong.

You may have already lost that spot in the cover letter you've written. According to Forbes, cover letters are dead. Cover letters sound the same everytime an employer reads through the pile of job-seekers. How do you then get a hiring manager to stay engaged with your profile? Maybe try a pain letter instead.

A pain letter indicates business pain points that managers are seeing.

What's a business pain? A business pain is a problem that keeps managers from achieving their service levels and goals.

For example, one problem in the upper level is how to increase sales in a specific product category. The category is slow-moving and they want to release inventories quickly. After seeing and hearing so many ideas fail and flop, you may have an idea of your own that would work. You can write down a snippet of your idea to get them to listen to you. But saying you have an answer isn't enough. You have to prove it. Which is why you need a dragon-slaying story that illustrates how you solved that problem in the past.

It may not be detailed in the job post but when a manager senses that you see what they're seeing, then they may have a good reason to talk to you. This is a good time to show the bosses that you are not just a lowly sheep wearing a tie; that you have the brains of a lion and you deserve a pay raise, a promotion or that corner office with the view. Especially, if you have the chops to earn it.

Want to know how to write a Pain Letter? Check out this JobsNhire article.