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FLEX Professional Development Tip: Networking Online


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Events, meetings, and even family gatherings have been moved online. Something that usually involves a handshake and face-to-face communication, networking, is also something that now has to take place virtually. While it can be challenging to make the same connections online instead of in-person, here are some tips to help you as you attempt online networking:

Who to target
Target specific people to avoid wasted time. Examples include:

  • People who work at your dream company or in the industry you’re looking to get into 
  • People whose careers you admire, and their gatekeepers 
  • Fellow alumni whose careers you admire 
  • Friends of friends

Track your network
Track your connections using a spreadsheet to stay organized and improve your ability to stay in touch with contacts. 

How you reach out matters

  • Choose email or LinkedIn messages over texting and social media.
  • Include in the email: Who are you? Why are you reaching out to them, specifically? What do you want?
  • Best practices for a subject line: Keep it short, use their first name, and get to the point.
  • Best practices for email: Keep it concise. Use hyperlinks to share more. Send in the AM. Create personal context.
  • Always aim for a live conversation to help people get to know you.  

Connect your story to them.

  • Explain what you admire about their career and why you respect their advice and opinion.
  • Ask about their career trajectory. 
  • Ask for their advice and any suggestions they might have for you.  
  • Can they review your resume or facilitate a connection? Be specific.  

Follow up

  • Immediately send a thank you 
  • Send a $5 gift card if you can 
  • Books/other gifts make a huge impression if someone went above and beyond 
  • Keep them posted about your career progress 
  • Return the favor when you can 

What online networking tips do you have? Comment below!

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) September 2020 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.

FLEX Professional Development Tip: Feeling More Connected to the Community


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By Ashley Smith

As humans, we want to feel connected. We want to feel proud of who we are, who we surround ourselves with, and where we live. These steps have helped me make the shift from Franklin being where I grew up to where I have proudly chosen to call home as an adult—a place I want to see thrive and be part of making that success happen. I’ve found these steps helpful to push myself to get out and immediately feel more rooted in our community.

Be a Friendly Face
When walking down the street or waiting in line, it is easy to pull out our phones. We need to try to look a person in the eye, smile (even under your mask), and say “Hello.” Ask how their day is and practice genuinely caring about their answer. Once we start talking to neighbors and people in our community, we begin to grow relationships, make friends, and root for each other’s success.

We can also go out of our way to thank people doing the work. Giving thanks energizes everyone. Event volunteers, workers, organizers, artists, public leaders—there are many layers of people involved in making our community a better place. It is ok if we don’t have the time or passion for some things  in our community, but we can thank the people who are doing that work.

Be Woke
Get educated and stay informed. Talk to people and ask questions. When does my favorite local event happen? Who sponsors it? Where does this local store get merchandise? How can I support them? It is shocking how many businesses and organizations exist here! The staff at the Venango Chamber are great resources to help connect us with local information.

Be Active
Once we get informed about opportunities, we can choose something that interests us to dive into. Volunteer for a local event, go to public meetings, become a member of a board, coach a school sport, join a church group, etc. Attend events that you may have never heard of. Be brave and try new experiences that will drive you to meeting new people that are looking to see our area thrive.

Be an Advocate
Spread the word! The Be Here Ambassador program is a great place to surround yourself with positive thinkers who want to celebrate great opportunities and tackle challenges that we have here. The Be Here Venango website is a great resource for information about living, working, and playing in our communities.

On social media, like and follow local places, events, and groups. If we like those local pages, we can share posts on news about local businesses, non-profits, schools, and events that might speak to us directly or to a friend. We can write our own posts about our own experiences in the community. Somewhere along the way, someone is going to see, read, or hear your positive advocating and it might be just what they need to feel connected.

Be Better
Most importantly, we need to aim to be better. No matter what, if we go into each day thinking about how we want our community to be better, positivity aides success. 

Thanks for the tips, Ashley! Find more FLEX tips by searching “professional development” in the search bar on this page.

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) August 2020 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.

FLEX Professional Development Tip: Mentorship


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By Ashley McCauley

A mentor is someone who you can depend on for unbiased advice and guidance. A mentor brings clarity to your biggest life decisions. My first boss, Ron Shoup, has been my lifelong mentor. He is someone I trust and I admire his ability to make me think differently about situations.

I have found a mentor is critical to my future success and professional development, especially while navigating complicated career decisions that ultimately impact my personal life. You may be only thinking about tomorrow, but a great mentor will help you plan to reach your long term goals.

Growth
I have never made a career decision without asking for my mentor’s advice. His guidance helped set me on my career path. One night, my mentor was driving past the bank where I worked at 10 p.m. He took that opportunity to remind me of one of the most important life lessons: “Work will always be there tomorrow, but your loved ones will not. You should go home.”

As a young professional with career and sales goals, it’s easy to get consumed by numbers on spreadsheets and market share reports. I’m competitive by nature and I thought I enjoyed looking at the numbers daily (sometimes hourly).

Ron knew I needed something different. I’ll forever be grateful for his advice on a career change from banking to insurance. For me, it was a move that almost instantly gave me a new family! #TeamRossbacher is a real family and I’ve never been happier to go to work on Monday. Without Ron’s encouragement and boost of confidence, I may have never stepped out of my comfort zone and found a career that changed my life.

Expectations and Roles
Don’t force a mentoring relationship. I worked for a company that teamed you up as a mentor to another employee who may have had less experience. It didn’t work because a mentor and mentee relationship has to be built on mutual trust and respect. A mentor should be someone who has inspired you by their work ethic, drive, and dedication to employees. A great mentor will feel invested in the future success of their mentee. When looking for a mentor first ask—who inspires you to be better? It’s important to pick someone who not only is invested in your career, but your entire future which includes your personal life.

Becoming a Mentor
Experience is a huge factor in what makes a mentor invaluable. They may have faced the same choice as you at one time or another. You can benefit from that or learn from their mistakes. I hope to one day have the years of experience behind me that will help someone make some of the biggest changes in their lives, too.
Thanks Ashley, for the tips!

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) July 2020 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.

FLEX Member(s) Highlight: Heather & Jessica


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Heather Hondel and Jessica Wilson are back at the Chamber as summer interns!

This is Heather’s third summer at the Chamber. She helps with the monthly newsletter, coordinates the Oil Heritage Festival (OHF) Basket Raffle, runs the Chamber and OHF Facebook page, edits website pages, among many other duties. She will be a senior at Grove City College and is graduating a semester early with a degree in Entrepreneurship.

Jessica is at the Chamber for a second year and helps mostly with FLEX and Be Here, especially social media and graphic design. She graduated a year early from Geneva College with a degree in Communication, and recently accepted a position at WebFX, a digital marketing company in Harrisburg, PA.

Congratulations to both Heather and Jessica for graduating early! They are huge assets to the Chamber team and we’re excited to have them with us another month. Although you won’t “see” them at upcoming events, they’ll be continuing to help behind the scenes with FLEX initiatives.

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) June 2020 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.

These articles were published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) December 2019 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.

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This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) July 2020 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.

FLEX to Hold Curbside Bike ‘n Brew


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This time of year is typically packed full of fun events bringing the community together. The recent pandemic has put a halt to many of these, which can put a damper on summer.

While our typical Bike ‘n Brew format of bringing hundreds of people together with beer samples isn’t possible this year, that isn’t stopping us from continuing to hold Bike ‘n Brew, even if it will look a little different.

We’re excited to introduce Curbside Bike ‘n Brew! This version of our annual event still includes awesome beer and fun.

Attendees will purchase a ticket to pick up a “package” full of cans of local craft beer, swag, coupons, and games. Ticket sales begin July 18 and packages will be picked up August 27.

FLEX will interact with attendees through live videos the week after the pickup, with tasting information, interviews with brewers, fun facts, and more.

We’re excited about the amount of community support we already have, in the form of sponsorships and participation. This year may be different, but it will be just as good of a time!

For more information and to purchase tickets once available, visit ohfbikenbrew.org.

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) July 2020 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.