Prima Games eGuides
primagames.com Browse Redeem a code Help
The Sims 3 Ambitions eGuide
Sign in My Guides

Sign in or create an account

We'll email you a link. No password needed, and if you don't have an account yet, the link makes one.

By creating an account or signing in, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Have a password?

Had an account on the old eGuides site, or a code from a printed guide? Help and troubleshooting

Sign in with a password

By signing in, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Check your email

A sign-in link is on its way. It works once and expires in 15 minutes. Open it and you're in, with an account if you didn't already have one.

Contents

  • Essentials
    • The Sims 3 Primer
      • Leading a New Life
      • Personality
      • Lifetime Wishes
      • A Day in the Life
      • Mood
      • Mood Boosting Tips and Tricks
      • Wishes
      • Opportunities
      • Skills
      • Athletic
      • Charisma
      • Cooking
      • Fishing
      • Gardening
      • Guitar
      • Handiness
      • Logic
      • Painting
      • Writing
      • Relationships and Socializing
  • Walkthrough
    • New Simology
      • Introduction
      • Create a Sim
      • Skills
      • New Socials
      • New Opportunities
    • New Venues and Real Estate
      • New Venues
      • Fire Station
      • Salon
      • Junkyard
      • Consignment Store
      • Laundromat
      • Real Estate
    • Tour of Twinbrook
      • City Living
      • Places of Employment
      • Shopping and Commerce
      • Community Spots
      • Parks
      • Fishing Spots
      • Collecting
    • Careers
      • Professions
      • Ghost Hunter
      • Career Progression
      • Investigations
      • Spirit Collecting
      • Firefighter
      • Career Progression
      • Emergencies
      • Investigator
      • Career Progression
      • Tools of the Trade
      • Cases
      • Architectural Designer
      • Career Progression
      • Stylist
      • Career Progression
      • Medical Career
      • Career Progression
      • Skill-Based Careers
    • Traditional Careers
      • Traditional Careers
      • Educator (New Career)
      • Business
      • Culinary
      • Journalism
      • Law Enforcement
      • Military
      • Music
      • Politics
      • Professional Sports
      • Science
      • Part-Time Work
      • School
    • New Objects
      • Ambitious Objects
      • Object Catalog

The Sims 3 Ambitions Guide › Walkthrough › Traditional Careers

Traditional Careers

Ambitions adds new jobs, but it does not remove any of the existing careers—the closest it comes is the modification of the Medical career into an active profession.

The existing career structure remains the same, with Sims reporting for almost-daily shifts at venues around the town, such as the business tower or the stadium.

In fact, one new career is added to the original career structure: Educator. The Educator reports to the local school for work during weekdays.

Use this section to master the new Educator career and all previous professions not affected by the professions system.

To sign up for a career, simply report to the building that headquarters the job, such as the military base or police station. Applying is as easy as left-clicking on the location and then choosing the offered career.

When your Sim reports to the job location, the career is immediately offered and the starting position/salary flashed on-screen. If you accept, you are given a schedule and expected to show up at the designated times.

There are multiple ways to advance a career.

Promotions are the most common benchmark of success and always come with a one-time Simoleon bonus, but there are social aspects to each career that involve getting to know co-workers, which has the potential to widen your circle of friends.

While at work, you can set the "tone" for your performance (more on these in a moment), which affects how you interact with co-workers or approach the job itself.

As you advance, your schedule changes and your salary rises. Typically, there are perks or benefits for hitting certain promotions.

Tip

Going to work in a good mood boosts your chances of promotion. Go see a movie the night before work to get the powerful Enjoyed a Great Movie moodlet that lasts almost the entire next day.

Tones

Although you do not actually see what your Sim does on these original jobs, you can dictate general behavior for that work day through tones.

Tones include behaviors such as working hard, getting to know co-workers, and sucking up to the boss. Some careers have unique tones, such as the Do a Side Job tone of the Criminal career.

Many of these tones play into earning promotions at work, so look at the provided promotion metrics for each career to see what tones are best for the next step in that career.

Note

Not all tones are available from the first day. In some careers, additional tones are earned when you reach specific promotions.

Retiring

Later in life, Sims can retire from a career and make a pension.

This pension is smaller than the wages normally made at that promotion level, but it is a great way to pull in daily income for necessary food and objects while pursuing skills.

Keep reading with a free account

The first 3 sections of The Sims 3 Ambitions are open to everyone. An account opens the rest of it, and every other guide in the archive. It's free, and there's nothing to buy.

Bought guides on the old Prima Games site? Your account and every guide you own moved here, so there's nothing to buy again. Sign in.

Create a free account Or browse our free guides

PreviousSkill-Based Careers NextEducator (New Career)