[Note: This was written as we are getting pelted with snow and freezing rain for the past two days in Boston]

As a kid, I loved snow days.  It was a free day to play outside with friends and just simply not doing anything productive.  It was just pure fun.  The problem was that instead of doing homework with some free moments during the day, I would always wait till the last minute and have a race to the finish to get it completed.

As an adult, I see Snow Days as an opportunity.  It is a chance to get out of the hectic environment of the office and focus on completing tasks that have been on the back burner for weeks with no distractions from the daily grind.

Now a “Snow Day” doesn’t have to be just days when white fluffy pieces of precipitation fall from the sky.  But it can represent the days when immediate tasks and priorities don’t fill your inbox.  Days when your recruiting organization has less requisitions they are in the process of filling and can focus more on their overall recruitment marketing strategy.

It is on these days that you need to will yourself to be productive.  It is on these days that you can start sourcing for jobs that you know you’ll need to be recruiting for two or three months down the line.  It is on these days that you focus on initiatives that can help you build your Talent Network so that it is easier to fill future job requisitions.

The question is what activities can you do today that can help you build your Talent Network for the future.  Here are a few that may work:

Resume Sourcing: Whether you have subscriptions to big resume databases, have an automated Resume Sourcing tool or source resumes on your own through Google, now is a great time to start collecting qualified resumes for jobs that you hire frequently.

Get Updated Contact Info: Now might be a great time to send an email or call qualified candidates that are already in your Talent Network.  Make sure to get updated contact and resume information from them so that when you make the move to get in touch with them, everything will be updated.

Launch a Talent Network Job Posting: Do you have a number of jobs that you are looking to start recruiting for 3 months from now.  Great, then why don’t you send out a job posting distribution stating that.  Say that your Company is looking for 20-30 positions in 3 months with a few sample potential job openings and invite them to join your Talent Network.  Include a link to your Career Site Opt-in form so they can easily add themselves.

Now when 3 months comes around, you have a collection of candidates that you can send an email to that are interested in your positions right off the bat.

Just because it’s a Snow Day doesn’t mean you can’t be productive.  Take these lulls in your week or month and start building your candidate database so that when you get back into hiring mode, you have a collection of qualified candidates at your disposal.