ApproveThis manages your Firefish approvals.

Why Approval Processes Break in Recruitment

Let’s get real – recruitment agencies live in a constant state of triage. Between candidate exports, client communications, and compliance checks, there's always someone waiting on a "quick approval" that inevitably gets buried under 47 unread Slack messages. Firefish handles the CRM heavy lifting, but when it comes to approvals? You’re still playing email tag with hiring managers who can’t remember how to open a PDF.

ApproveThis cuts through that noise by adding structure to the chaos. Think of it as bouncer for your decision-making processes – it routes requests to the right people, chases them down when they’re late, and keeps a paper trail so you’re not scrambling during audit season. And when you connect it to Firefish via Zapier? That’s when you start reclaiming hours lost to administrative limbo.

How This Combo Works (Without the Tech Jargon)

Here’s the simple version: Firefish manages your candidates and clients. ApproveThis manages your team’s decisions. Zapier acts as the messenger between them. No API development required – just point-and-click automation that does the grunt work for you.

Three reasons this matters:

• Approvers don’t need Firefish access – External clients or execs can approve/reject requests directly via email without needing a Firefish license
• Decisions trigger actions – Approved candidate exports automatically progress to next steps; denied requests loop back with comments
• Full visibility – See every pending decision across clients, roles, and teams in one dashboard instead of 14 different inboxes

Real-World Use Cases That Don’t Suck

1. Candidate Exports That Don’t Leak Sensitive Data

Scenario: Your recruiters constantly export candidate lists from Firefish saved searches. Problem is, junior staff sometimes shares profiles without checking non-competes or GDPR consent.

The Fix: Set up a Zap that triggers an ApproveThis workflow every time someone exports candidates. Requires team leads to approve exports containing:

• Candidates from competing clients
• Profiles with sensitive personal data
• Any role paying $150k+ (using ApproveThis’ calculated fields)

Real Impact: A London tech agency reduced accidental data shares by 82% in 3 months by adding this approval layer. Bonus: They used ApproveThis’ approval thresholds to auto-approve junior role exports under £45k.

2. Email List Hygiene That Actually Works

Scenario: Your marketing team blasts campaigns through Firefish, but unsubscribes get ignored. Now you’re risking spam complaints every time a candidate gets rejected.

The Fix: When ApproveThis kicks off a "rejection approval" workflow (like denying a candidate), Zapier automatically unsubscribes their email from Firefish comms. No more awkward "Sorry we rejected you... here’s our newsletter!"

Setup That Takes Less Time Than Your Morning Coffee

1. Connect the Apps: Create a Zapier account if you don’t have one (it’s the duct tape of tech integrations)

2. Choose Your Trigger: - For candidate approvals: Use Firefish’s "Saved Search Candidate Exported" trigger - For email cleanups: Use ApproveThis’ "New Request" trigger

3. Map the Fields: Tell Zapier which Firefish data points to send to ApproveThis (candidate name, role, export reason)

4. Add Approval Logic: In ApproveThis, set up rules like: - Require 2 approvals for C-level roles - Auto-approve internships under 20 hours/week - Escalate approvals that sit untouched for 24hrs

5. Test With Real Data: Export a test candidate in Firefish – you should see the approval request pop up in ApproveThis within minutes

Department-Specific Wins

Recruitment Teams

Stop playing phone tag with clients. When a hiring manager needs to approve a shortlist, ApproveThis sends them an email with one-click approve/reject buttons. If they don’t respond? The request escalates to their VP automatically. All without them needing Firefish access.

Finance & Legal

Contract approvals that don’t make you want to scream. When a recruiter finalizes a placement in Firefish, ApproveThis:

- Routes the contract to legal for compliance checks

- Sends fee agreements to finance for budget approval

- Only notifies the recruiter when all parties have signed off

Marketing/Operations

Automate the busywork that kills campaign velocity. Example: ApproveThis can require team approval before sending bulk emails to high-value client lists in Firefish. Approved? Zapier triggers the send. Denied? It automatically scrubs the list and notifies the requestor why.

Features You’ll Actually Use (No Bloat)

While testing this integration, three ApproveThis features stood out:

Vacation Delegation: Your HR manager is OOO? ApproveThis automatically reroutes their approvals to the acting manager without missing a beat.

Approval Thresholds: Auto-approve routine requests (like background check renewals) but flag anomalies – like a candidate’s requested rate being 30% above role budget.

Calculated Fields: Automatically flag contracts that exceed client budgets by calculating placement fees in real-time during approval.

Why This Isn’t Just Another Integration

Most Zapier integrations just move data from A to B. This combo actually changes how teams operate:

For Leadership: Finally get visibility into approval bottlenecks. The ApproveThis dashboard shows exactly which clients/roles cause delays.

For Admins: Ditch the spreadsheets. Approval history logs in ApproveThis auto-sync with Firefish candidate records.

For External Partners: Clients approve contracts faster when they don’t have to log into yet another portal. Email approvals mean they can review terms while waiting for their latte.

Getting Started Without the Overwhelm

Pick one process that currently gives you migraines – maybe candidate exports or contract approvals. Connect it through Zapier, then expand once you’ve got a win. Most teams see ROI in under 3 weeks.

Ready to stop being a human routing bot? Register for ApproveThis or schedule a demo that’s actually tailored to recruitment workflows.

P.S. If you’re using Firefish for client management, ask our team about the pre-built approval templates for common recruitment scenarios. We’ve done the heavy lifting so you don’t have to.