Let's Talk Recruit: An approval process with zero follow-ups | Zoho Recruit

Let's Talk Recruit: An approval process with zero follow-ups | Zoho Recruit



Welcome back to our Let's Talk Recruit series! Today, the topic of discussion is the Approval process. We’ll discuss how approval workflows function in recruitment, explore real-world use cases, and show how automation in Zoho Recruit can streamline approvals and drive efficiency in your organization.

What is an approval process?

An approval process is a structured workflow used to authorize various stages in the recruitment process, such as job requisitions, candidate approvals, and offer letters. Automating approvals in Zoho Recruit ensures efficiency, reduces delays, and eliminates miscommunication.
For instance, when a recruiter shortlists a candidate for a specific role, the hiring manager must approve the selection before scheduling further rounds. Additionally, once a final candidate is chosen, approval from HR and upper management is required before extending an offer.

Why automate approvals?

It automates the repetitive, cumbersome, and time-consuming tasks

Without Automation

With Automation

Manual follow-ups
Automatic notifications
Delayed decisions
Timely approvals
Miscommunication
Clear approval trials
Lost candidates
Faster hiring cycles
Inconsistent process
Standardized workflows

How does the approval process function?

The diagram above illustrates how a typical approval workflow functions in Zoho Recruit:

When should you use an approval process?

Objective:

An organization needs a streamlined process to manage approvals for job offers sent to selected candidates before finalizing the hiring process.

Example Scenario:

An internal recruitment team collaborates with various departments to hire candidates. When a candidate is selected after the final interview, the job offer must be approved internally before it is sent out. The HR manager and finance team must review the offer details, such as salary, benefits, and contract terms, before the final approval.

They want the approval process to be automated so that:
  • Automated Approval Initiation:
    Once a recruiter selects a candidate and generates a job offer, the approval process should start automatically to avoid delays.
  • Multi-Level Approvals:
    The job offer must first be approved by the HR manager to ensure compliance with company policies.☆ If the salary exceeds a predefined limit, it must be reviewed by the finance department to verify budget availability.
  • Pending Background Verification:
    If a candidate’s background verification is still pending, the offer should not be sent until the verification is completed and approved.
  • Final Offer Dispatch:
    Once the approvals are received, the system should automatically send the final job offer via email to the candidate with a confirmation notification.


Here's a challenge for you:

Identify activities that need automatic approvals. Create a rule and set up a trigger. Send approval requests automatically and put it to test
Start small—maybe automate email approvals or candidate shortlisting—and build from there!

Let’s Talk Recruit!

Now Over to You! Have you used approval processes in your hiring workflow? What’s your favourite feature in Zoho Recruit’s approval system? Drop a comment and let’s share ideas! Let’s help each other recruit smarter.

      • Sticky Posts

      • An update to improve email delivery | Email Authentication & Relay

        Update Rollout Latest Update: Enterprise users (8th July, 2025) This update is now live for Enterprise plan users in all regions. This includes People Plus, but not Zoho One, which will be covered in an upcoming update. Professional users (31st May 2025)
      • Zoho Recruit User Group Meet-up | INDIA 2025 (Venue Finalised)

        Hello Zoho Recruit users from India, We’re pleased and excited to announce our 2025 edition of Zoho user group meet-up in India in five cities! In this meet-up, our team of experts will help you understand the intricate nuances to use Zoho Recruit better,
      • Zoho Recruit is coming to the UK | Zoho Community Learning Series

        Customers from the United Kingdom, Exciting news: We will be in London for the Zoho Recruit user meet up. Our team will help you better understand the intricate nuances of Zoho Recruit to help you hire faster, inform about new and upcoming features, and
      • Ask the experts - A live Q & A discussion on Zoho Recruit

        We are delighted to come back with another edition of Ask the Experts community series. This edition, we'll be focusing on everything about Zoho Recruit. The topics will focus on the features that are used/asked by the majority of users and also based
      • Restriction on 'From' addresses with a public domain

        Dear Zoho Recruit Community, We hope this message finds you well. This post is to inform you about some important updates regarding email restrictions within Zoho Recruit. Effective post 31st March 2025, we will be implementing changes to the use of email

        • Recent Topics

        • FSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data

          I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the Import
        • Zoho FSM API Delete Record

          Hi FSM Team, It would be great if you could delete a record via API. Thank you,
        • OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH Error for Marketing Automation APIs with CRM Plus Account

          I'm trying to integrate Marketing Automation journey triggering via API but getting OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH errors. I need clarification on API access for CRM Plus users.
        • Access token generate from the refresh token not working for API

          Dear Sir/Madam, When I use my refresh token to obtain new access_token, that token return INVALID_TOKEN when the same API is called. I made sure that my api site is correct and match the auth web site. However the original access_token work fine.
        • Function #4: Schedule Customer Statements

          Regularly sending statements to customers is an imperative part of many business processes as it helps foster strong customer relationships and provides timely guidance on payments. While you can generate the statement of accounts and have it sent over
        • Limiting search or dependencies with an asterisk "*".

          I have a form with several dependency fields with options still developing for each field. Since these options were developing and not yet ready to be a selection in the field, I placed a filter for the dropdown field. In this filter, I selected fields
        • Improved RingCentral Integration

          We’d like to request an enhancement to the current RingCentral integration with Zoho. RingCentral now automatically generates call transcripts and AI-based call summaries (AI Notes) for each call, which are extremely helpful for support and sales teams.
        • Cross Data Center Support for 1:1 Chats with External Users

          Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We appreciate the recent enhancement that enables cross data center collaboration in external channels, which has already improved communication across distributed teams. However, we’ve noticed that this
        • Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

          Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels
        • Answer Bot and Personalized Questions

          Hi there, I have the same problem using the SalesIQ Answer Bot and the Zoho Desk Answer Bot (which really need different names, to be honest, in order to avoid confusion...) Customers that visit our website ask questions in the form of "What do you do?"
        • Handling Greetings/Small Talk at the Beginning of a Zobot Conversation

          Hello everyone, I’m currently configuring a **Zobot** in Zoho SalesIQ and everything is working as expected, except for one specific scenario at the very beginning of the conversation. My target audience has the habit of starting with a **greeting or
        • Regex in Zoho Mail custom filters is not supported - but it works!

          I recently asked Zoho for help using regex in Zoho Mail custom filters and was told it was NOT supported. This was surprising (and frustrating) as regex in Zoho Mail certainly works, although it does have some quirks* To encourage others, here are 3 regex
        • Importing a new list into campaigns

          I'm in the middle of switching my email platform to campaigns. I have a list that I want to import, and it overlaps with my existing Zoho CRM list. The fields in my Zoho CTM are more robust. Will this new list that I upload into my campaigns overwrite
        • Client Script Payload Size Bug

          var createParams = { "data": [{ "Name": "PS for PR 4050082000024714556", "Price_Request": { "id": "4050082000024714556" }, "Account": { "id": "4050082000021345001" }, "Deal": { "id": "4050082000023972001" }, "Owner": { "id": "4050082000007223004" }, "Approval_Status":
        • when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent

          when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent?
        • Export Invoices to XML file

          Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunities
        • Showing description in timesheet and timelogs.

          I am wondering if it’s possible in version 5 of Zoho People to have the description show by default or with a manipulation on the user’s part. Let me show you what I mean. As you can see this is the view for the users. Now if they want to see the full
        • How can I see content of system generated mails from zBooks?

          System generated mails for offers or invices appear in the mail tab of the designated customer. How can I view the content? It also doesn't appear in zMail sent folder.
        • CRM Blueprint Notification by Cliq

          Dear Zoho team, In Workflow, there is nofication by cliq, but in blueprint, there is no option as cliq notification. I think it is very convenient to get notified by Cliq , as there are multi modules in apps, but we will always check Cliqs
        • Zoho People Attendance Regularization – Wrong Total Hours Displayed

          While using Zoho People, I observed that the attendance regularization is showing wrong total hours when applied to past dates. For example, if a check-in is added at 10:00 AM and check-out at 6:00 PM for a previous date, the system sometimes calculates
        • Sync Contacts in iOS

          What does the "Sync Contacts" feature in the iOS Zoho Mail app do?
        • Live webinar: Craft the ideal sales pitch deck with Show

          Every great sale starts with a great story. And your pitch deck? That’s where the story takes shape. But too often, these presentations end up looking generic, overloaded with text, or lacking structure. The good news is, it's easier to fix than you think!
        • Project Statuses

          Hi All, We have projects that sometimes may not make it through to completion. As such, they were being marked as "Cancelled". I noticed that these projects still show as "Active" though which seems counter intuitive. In fact, the only way I can get them
        • 👋 Welcome to the Zoho MCP Community

          Hello all, glad to have you here! This is your space for everything AI agents, MCP tools, and intelligent business apps. This community is for you — developers, partners, creators, and businesses exploring how agents can transform work. Whether you’re
        • Suitability of Zoho One (Single User License) for Multi-State GST Compliance & Cost Analysis

          Hello Zoho Team, I am an e-commerce business owner selling on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho, and I'm currently using their fulfillment warehouses. I have two GSTIN registrations and am planning to register for an additional 2-3 to expand
        • DNS Manager

          Where Can I find my DNS manager so I can link this to click funnels or AWEBER
        • Forwarder

          Hi, I tried to add a forwarder from which emails are sent to my main zoho account email . However, it asks me for a code that should be received at the forwarder email, which is still not activated to send to my zoho emial account. So how can I get the
        • Forwarder

          Hi, I tried to add a forwarder from which emails are sent to my main zoho account email . However, it asks me for a code that should be received at the forwarder email, which is still not activated to send to my zoho emial account. So how can I get the
        • How do I sync multiple Google calendars?

          I'm brand new to Zoho and I figured out how to sync my business Google calendar but I would also like to sync my personal Google calendar. How can I do this so that, at the very least, when I have personal engagements like doctor's appointments, I can
        • Need to extract date from datetime field

          I have a datetime field and need only the date part from it. I am unable to find a built-in function that would be <DateTime>.Date(). I don't think I want to go the string conversion route of converting the datetime to string and then parsing out values and create a date out of it. Any one out there has a better solution to this? Thanks in adavnce. Regards Moiz Tankiwala Smart Training & IT Solutions
        • How to Hide Article Links in SalesIQ Answer Bot Responses

          I have published an article in SalesIQ, and the Answer Bot is fetching the data and responding correctly. However, it is also displaying the article link, which I don’t want. How can I remove the link so that only the message is shown?
        • New in Cadences: WhatsApp follow-ups, upgraded limits, and options for add-ons

          Hello everyone, We're rolling out two key updates to help you engage better and scale smarter with Cadences in Zoho CRM. Reach customers on WhatsApp, directly from Cadences Previously, Cadences have enabled you to automate follow-ups through emails, calls,
        • additional accounts

          If I brought 5 emails to my account. Can I later buy additional emails.
        • Issue in Zoho People Regularization – Incorrect Hour Calculation

          I have noticed that when applying attendance regularization in Zoho People for previous dates, the total working hours are not calculated correctly. For example, even if the check-in is 10:00 AM and check-out is 6:00 PM, the system shows an incorrect
        • Why I am unable to configure Zoho Voice with my Zoho CRM account?

          I have installed Zoho Voice in my Zoho CRM, but as per the message there is some config needed in Zoho Voice interface. But when I click on the link given in the above message, I get an access denied page.
        • Issue with Hour Calculation in Zoho People Attendance Module

          I have noticed an issue in the attendance regularization feature of Zoho People. When trying to regularize past dates, the total working hours are not calculated correctly. For example, if I enter a check-in and check-out time for a previous day, the
        • Cliq Meeting Calls No Audio and Screen Share

          When in a Cliq channel meeting, the audio does not work at all on pc. When i use my phone as audio source, screen share on pc does not work. I have updated audio drivers but the strangest thing is that during a 1 on 1 call, it works well. Therefore the
        • Bug in Total Hour Calculation in Regularization for past dates

          There is a bug in Zoho People Regularization For example today is the date is 10 if I choose a previous Date like 9 and add the Check in and Check out time The total hours aren't calculated properly, in the example the check in time is 10:40 AM check
        • Work anniversary and birthdays on connect

          Hello, I like the idea of having employee's work anniversary and birthdays on the dashbaord. Do you have to have the employee complete this information themselves in connect settings, or does it pull from their directory settings? (ie. we use Zoho one
        • Alias Email Id already exists

          Hi I'm trying to create an alias : contact @ yoavarielevy.co.il but i get the message  Alias Email Id already exists I had an account with the same name but I deleted it. Can you help? Thanx Yoav
        • Next Page