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Diversity Sourcing Strings
How do I widen my candidate pool beyond the usual profiles?
How to use these strings fairly
Each string finds people through what they write about themselves: the networks they belong to, programmes they joined or phrases like 'career break'. Run it as an extra search alongside your main one and add the results to the same pipeline. Every candidate then goes through the same screen, the same questions and the same scorecard. The aim is a wider pool, not a separate track.
- Widening the pool
- Adding searches that reach under-represented groups, then assessing everyone equally.
- People of determination / أصحاب الهمم
- The UAE's official term for people with disabilities.
- Returner
- Someone coming back to work after a career break.
Never use these to screen people out
- UAE Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 bans employment discrimination on grounds including sex, colour, religion, national origin and disability.
- Don't infer gender, age or disability from names or photos. Rely only on what candidates choose to share.
- Ask every candidate whether they need adjustments for the interview, not only those found through these strings.
Make the rest of the process fair too
Check your ad for biased wording with the job ad grader, combine these strings with your role in the Boolean search generator, and for language requirements see nationality and language strings.
Frequently asked questions
What is diversity sourcing?
Deliberately looking in places your usual searches miss — women's professional networks, career returners, people of determination, fresh graduates — so your shortlist reflects the whole talent market. It adds people to the pool. Everyone is then assessed on the same criteria.
Is it legal to search for these groups in the UAE?
Searching to widen the pool is fine. Rejecting or ranking people because of their sex, age, disability or origin is not: UAE Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 prohibits discrimination in employment on grounds such as sex, colour, religion, national origin and disability. Use these strings to find more candidates, never to filter anyone out.
What does 'people of determination' mean?
It is the UAE government's official term for people with disabilities (أصحاب الهمم in Arabic). Profiles, community groups and support programmes use it, so it is the phrase to search in the UAE. In Saudi Arabia the usual Arabic term is ذوي الإعاقة.
Why look for career returners?
People returning after a career break — often after caring for family — bring years of experience but are invisible to searches that require recent job titles. Strings such as 'career break' or 'returnship' find them. Judge them on what they did and can do, not on the gap.
Can I infer gender from a name or photo to balance my shortlist?
No. Guessing gender, age or ethnicity from names or photos is unreliable and invites discrimination claims. Use the strings to reach groups through what people write about themselves, then assess everyone the same way.
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