What it means
A candidate approval flow is the set of review steps used before a candidate is advanced, rejected, contacted, offered a role, or moved into another hiring stage. It can include recruiter review, hiring-manager approval, interview-panel feedback, compliance checks, compensation review, background screening milestones, and final offer authorization.
Why buyers should care
Approval flows shape hiring speed and accountability. Weak approval design can create stalled candidates, inconsistent decisions, missing documentation, unclear ownership, or manager workarounds outside the system. Buyers should evaluate whether approvals reflect the real recruiting process and whether the product makes each decision point reviewable without creating unnecessary friction.
Evaluation checks
Review configurable approval steps, role-based permissions, reminder logic, comments, version history, exception routing, audit logs, and integrations with ATS, HRIS, background check, and offer systems. Check whether rejected or overridden approvals preserve context and whether candidates can receive timely, accurate communications after internal decisions are made.
This glossary entry is buyer-oriented guidance, not legal, compliance, or financial advice.