Cedar's recruiting requests cover different objects. Some change the requisition, some change its posting, and others change one candidate application. Identify the object before using a familiar button. A candidate-stage action can't substitute for requisition approval.
Use the dates given in each task and keep the existing history. Approval must follow creation, opening must follow approval, and a stage event must follow the application and earlier events. Each exercise is independent, with its own supplied setup where a later-stage object is needed. Read that setup before concluding that a task is asking you to bypass approval. The final question concerns a closed application. Keeping that history in reports is useful, but it doesn't mean the record should be moved back into an active stage without a new application and the appropriate process.