The Secretary shall adopt guidelines for the recruitment and selection of contractual employees. These guidelines shall require a contracting unit: to make a reasonable effort to publicly solicit applicants for contractual employment; to make a reasonable effort to screen and select contractual employees by using methods and criteria that are uniformly applied to all applicants for a particular instance of contractual employment; and to use criteria to select contractual employees that: are based on the qualifications of the applicant; and conform to subsection (c) of this section. All personnel actions concerning a contractual employee shall be made in accordance with § 2-302 of this article. An action may be taken with regard to age, sex, or disability to the extent that age, sex, or disability involves a bona fide occupational qualification. To the extent feasible, a unit shall conduct the recruitment and selection of contractual employees according to the guidelines adopted under this section.