These are excellent questions. OFCCP is primarily interested in knowing with whom you are posting your positions, as well as the resulting applicant pool. If your applicant pool isn’t diverse, you are unlikely to have diversity in your hiring. Your question is more nuanced, however, as you are asking about search criteria. To the best of my knowledge, OFCCP has not addressed the question you are asking, however, I would not think it would be problematic for recruiters to search for terms that are likely to result in qualified candidates from underrepresented groups. Thus, searching for terms such as “veteran/military” or “black professionals” could be comparable to attending a job fair which is likely to produce candidates who are veterans or of a particular ethnicity. This type of outreach is encouraged by OFCCP. In this COVID-19 environment, using specific search criteria may be the only way to reach such candidates. The concern you raise about “considering race” is relevant after the candidates have been evaluated for meeting the minimum qualifications.

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