Career



Sims need a job to pay the bills and buy things. There are many careers available.

Getting a Job
A Sim may get a job by reading a newspaper or by surfing the internet. Sims can also get a part-time job or start in a career track by going to its Community building. A Sim getting a job from the newspaper starts low in the career track, usually at level one (exceptions exist; see below). A Sim getting a job from the computer (the different types of computers work identically) can start higher.
 * A Sim getting a job from the computer will start at a level that depends on his skills, his number of friends, and whether or not he has a university degree.
 * A Sim with a university degree will start even higher on his career track if his career is one of the preferred ones on his career track. This is the only way of getting a job at higher than level 1 (level 2, usually) from the newspaper. A Sim with an appropriate degree who has skills and friends enough to be promoted to the top may use the computer to get a job as high as level 9.
 * The jobs available change every day at midnight.
 * The career tracks that came with the University expansion are only available to Sims who have graduated from University: Paranormal, Natural Science, Show Business, and Artist.
 * Five jobs are available from the computer; three from the newspaper. If there are fewer your Sim is most likely not a university graduate, and the missing jobs would be available if he were.

Career Tracks
The Sims, The Sims 2, The Sims 3, and their expansions each have several career tracks. A career track is a group of jobs with a similar theme that a Sim must progress through by getting promotions.

Promotions
Sims can earn promotions primarily by having the correct skills and enough friends. The amount of friends they need and the skills they must have are highlighted on the job panel. But besides just having the correct skills there are other things that are important to getting a sim promoted.
 * A maxed job performance bar means a very high chance of promotion if the sim in question has the friends and skills required for promotion. Job performance increases when a sim goes to work in a good mood. If a sim has the required skills and friends, platinum mood will virtually guarantee a promotion.
 * The chance of a promotion increases if the sim has a high aspiration level and decreases the further up the career they get. Often the chance for a promotion appears in a chance card.
 * If a Sim has a relative higher up the career than they are there is a small chance they will pull strings to advance them in the career.
 * If Nightlife is installed and a sim has a good date with an employee of higher rank in the career this may also effect their chances of getting promoted. It should be noted however that this employee must be at least 2 job levels higher than the sim being promoted.
 * If a teen grows up into an adult and already has a job, they will automatically be promoted.

Demotions
If a sim has a low aspiration level, loses too many skill points or answers a chance card wrong there is a chance the sim will be demoted or fired. If either happens the sim will come home immediately, have a major drop in all needs and spend a real-life minute moping by the pavement. They will also get a bad memory and autonomous reactions will occur in which the sim will start crying and thinking about the demotion throughout the day.

Chance cards
Any time a sim is at work they can encounter a chance card. Chance cards consist of text describing a predicament or decision a sim must make. The player can choose one of two options (or press ignore) to complete the scenario. A good or bad result is then randomly determined. Ignoring a chance card has no good or bad effects.

Career reward objects
A new item in The Sims 2 is a career reward object. As sims progress through their career they earn a Career Reward Object which lets sims earn skills at a faster rate. The sim who earned the object is not the only one who can use the reward. They can teach other sims how to use the object so they too can earn skill points faster.

Note: If your Sim moves after putting the Career Reward Object on their lot they will lose the object and have to earn it again. Although now that sims have inventories starting with Nightlife, you can remedy this by making sure to place the object in your sim's inventory before you move.

In The Sims 3, there are no longer career reward objects, but there are still rewards. They are such things as extra money, positive mood/moodlets, and new social interactions. Also, there are multiple rewards for each career, rather than just one per career.

Pay Raises
Pay raises come with promotion in all the games, but in The Sims 3, pay raises don't end once your sims reaches the top of a career. Each time the performance meter fills, your sim gets a pay raise.