Note: This article pertains to iCIMS Applicant Tracking (ATS). If you are using iCIMS Offer Management to manage the offer process, refer to the following resources: Configuring iCIMS Offer Management Creating and Managing Clauses in iCIMS Offer Management Creating and Managing Offer Templates in iCIMS Offer Management Creating and Sending Offers in iCIMS Offer Management

Overview

iCIMS Applicant Tracking enables users to submit candidates, offers, jobs and iForms through an approval chain prior to taking action on the item. By default, user admins, recruiters, and hiring managers can all start any approval process. Permissions related to approval processes can be configured based on each client’s unique workflow and existing approval methods.
 
Applicant Tracking's offer approval process is used to submit an offer for internal approval before sending to a candidate, allowing the corporate hierarchy to review the offer criteria and salary before it is presented to a candidate.

For information regarding how to configure the results available within an approval search as a user admin, refer to the Configuring Approver Searches article. For information on acting as an approver for an offer, refer to the Acting as an Approver on a Job section of the Understanding and Initiating the Job Approval Process article, as the steps are similar.
  Routing Offers for Approval

1. Navigate to the Job profile for which you want to route an offer, and select the People tab.
2. In any Detailed View, select the checkbox next to the candidate for whom there is an offer to send for approval, and select the Advance button.
3. Within the Advance status list, select the appropriate offer approval status for your organization. (The name and availability of the status may be configured for your specific organization.) If a popup message displays, select OK.
4. On the Edit Approval List screen, select the Edit Default Message link to view or change the email message that is sent to approvers, if desired. When finished editing this message, select the Save button in the Compose Email popup.

• Note: Message variables are highlighted in green and will populate with data when the email is sent. If the template says that it Contains Unavailable Variables, there are variables in the template that the system cannot access. If a variable is unavailable, it will appear with a strikethrough. As a best practice, do not send out emails with unavailable variables.
• Tip: Verify the presence of or add the Approval Button variable to the email message to allow approvers to approve or decline the candidate directly from the email they receive. This may be accomplished by selecting the Add Variables button, selecting Approval, then selecting General > Approval Button and selecting the Add Selected button.

5. To access or generate a list of approvers, locate the Add Approvers section of the Edit Approval List screen. The dropdown to the immediate right of the Add Approvers label can include options to select a Person, Relational Person, and/or a Global Approval List. (Available options may differ depending upon specific system configurations and access permissions.)

• Select Person to add a specific person to the approval list. Select the Make a Selection dropdown to search for and select the correct approver. Repeat to add as many approvers as necessary.
• Select Relational Person to add a person with a specific relationship to the offer to the approval list. In popup that displays, search for and/or identify the correct kind of approver. Select the correct title, and then select Add Selected.
  (For example, to select the manager of the hiring manager for the job, select Relational Approvers > Job File > Job > Detail Tab > Hiring Manager > Employee Tab > Manager, and then select Add Selected.)
  To add additional Relational Persons, select the Show Relational Approvers button. Repeat to add as many approvers as necessary.
• Select Global Approval List to add all persons and relational persons from a global approval list to this list. Select the Make a Selection dropdown to search for and select the correct global approval list. Note that the global approval list will populate as individual person or relational persons, not as a list, so that individuals can be removed or moved within the newly-created list. Repeat to add as many global approval list as necessary.

• Tips:

• Person, Relational Person, and Global Approval List selections may be made in any order, and adding a new selection will not overwrite existing approvers in the list.
• It is possible to add the same individual multiple times in an approval list. An individual who appears multiple times (by name and/or by relationship) will receive the approval request multiple times.
• For additional information about moving, deleting, and managing approvers from this screen, refer to the Tips for Managing Approvers and Approval Lists article.

6. Select the Save & Begin Approval button.

• Note: There is a setting that can control the minimum number of approvers necessary to begin an approval. If the Begin Approvals button does not display on the approval screen, enter at least the minimum number of approvers and then select Save; this should prompt the Save & Begin Approval button to display.

7. Select OK in the popup window to confirm the start of the approval process, if applicable. The system will automatically email each approver one at a time in the order they are listed. This process will continue until all approvers listed have responded.

• Note: Once the approval is initiated, the system uses the current information to resolve any relational approvers and send requests for approval to the appropriate people. If any relational approver cannot be resolved, the system will indicate that this approver is Unavailable and, upon any attempt to proceed, will display a popup prompting the user to acknowledge that that approver will be removed from the list.

8. View the finalized approval process on the Offer Approval tab of the candidate's Recruiting Workflow profile. Each approver will be listed along with the status of their approval.
   • Note: Offer Approval details can also be accessed from the popup launched via the Offer Approval Icon available as a column in Recruiting Workflow Searches.  

Warning: The link and/or approval buttons provided in the email to each approver will allow them to approve the offer and make comments without logging in. To avoid security concerns, this email should not be forwarded or carbon-copied to others.

Tips:

• Resend approval emails as reminders to listed approvers by selecting the Resend button.
• Skip over any listed approvers to advance the approval process by selecting the Skip button.
• The iCIMS system assigns a status to the approver so that the recruiter knows where the approval stands. These statuses can also be manually changed by users with appropriate permissions. The most common statuses are:
  • Pending - Approvers have been assigned, but the approval email has not been sent.
  • Notified - Approver has been notified, but hasn't yet viewed the email.
  • Viewed - Manager has viewed the approval email.
  • Approved - Job, candidate, offer, or iForm has been approved.
  • Rejected - Job, candidate, offer, or iForm approval has been declined.
  • Skipped - Recruiter has manually set the status to Skipped so that the process does not stall.
  • Unable to Contact - Email has not reached the recipient. 
• When an offer is either approved or declined, by default, the approval initiator will be automatically notified by the system. User admins can use the Offer Approval Notification Recipients setting to update who receives this notification. For more information, review the Configuring Approval Notifications article.
• To learn how to set up a dashboard widget to show you all offers awaiting your approval, review the Common Dashboard Metrics article. For an overview of the dashboard, refer to the Introduction to the Dashboard article.
• If an offer must be sent back through the approval process, navigate to the Recruiting Workflow profile of the candidate for whom the offer was intended and select their Offer Approval tab. From this tab, the list of approvers can be edited, if needed, and the process can be reset.
  • A completed offer approval can be reset by selecting Reset Process.
  • An offer that was rejected can be continued by selecting Resume Approval, which will restart the process starting with the person who rejected the original offer.
  • To restart a rejected offer approval from the beginning, select Edit, then select Save & Begin Approval.