While some Sims will find great fulfillment out of pursuing skills, others need a more conventional source of income: a career. Careers are not just places to report to five or so days a week and earn Simoleons.
Careers help define Sims by affecting moods, inspiring wishes, and offering opportunities that affect the previously two mentioned facets of a Sim’s personality.
For a complete list of all of the skills, the benefits of achieving each skill level, and the best way to master each skill, please see the Simology chapter.
There are many career tracks in Sunset Valley for your Sim to pursue, and like skills, some of them are natural picks for your Sim depending on the traits selected in Create a Sim.
Because some Sims are inclined toward specific careers—an athletic Sim will likely want to be a professional athlete—watch the incoming wishes when you first move to Sunset Valley to see what your Sims want to be.
Some Sims will immediately tell you what career they want to join. Other may need it coaxed out them over time by interacting with other Sims or by developing skills associated with certain careers. Many careers are also directly tied into a Sim’s Lifetime Wish, such as reaching level 10, the highest level, of a specific career.
Here are all of the available careers in Sunset Valley, and where you need to go in order to apply for a job:
Business: Doo Peas Corporate Towers
Criminal: Outstanding Citizen Warehouse Corp.
Culinary: Hogan’s Deep-Fried Diner or Little Corsican Bistro
Journalism: Doo Peas Corporate Towers
Law Enforcement: Police Station
Medical: Sacred Spleen Memorial Hospital
Military: Fort Gnome Military Base
Music: Wilsonoff Community Theater
Political: City Hall
Professional Sports: Llama Memorial Stadium
Science: Landgraab Industries Science Facility
To apply for a job, just show up!
You can also check the newspaper for jobs. At least three will be offered, complete with full listings that detail schedules and wages. You can also look for work on the computer.
When you get a job, expect to slide into the bottom spot on the totem pole. There are 10 levels of advancement inside a career. Depending on your job performance, though, you can earn promotions that result in more money and better shifts.
In fact, it seems the more promotions you get, the less hours you work. But because you are earning more Simoleons, working fewer hours does not hammer your pocketbook.
The Career Panel is the best place to check out your Sim’s current career status. Here, you can see your current position at the career, the current wage, and current work schedule. From the Career panel, you can also see little hints for how to get ahead at work.
To the right of the work schedule is a set of performance ratings. Use these hints to focus your Sim’s energies on the right skills and needs. If you go to work in a bad mood, you are likely to be passed over. But if you keep your spirits high at home and report to work with a wide smile, you may enter the fast-track to the corner office.
From time to time, you also get opportunities directly related to your career that will help with advancement. Sometimes your coworkers or your boss will offer a task that will make you look good. Maybe your boss will give a book to take home and read.
Or your coworkers will ask you to please come to work smelling so fresh and so clean. If you meet the requirements for these opportunities, the next time you head to your place of employment, the achievement will be duly noted. More often than not, a promotion is not too far behind.
You decide how your Sim will behave at work. Select an attitude from the drop-down menu to direct your Sim’s workplace ethic. How your Sim chooses to spend his or her time at work can have a serious effect on the chance of a promotion.
You can work on skill development related to your job while at work, too, by choosing a workplace behavior that matches one of your skills. For example, if you work at the stadium and choose to hit the gym while there, your Athletic skill goes up.
A carpool picks you up from your house approximately 30 minutes before your shift starts. Be home to catch the lift. If you miss the carpool, you better hail a cab so you aren’t late.
Demotions and Terminations
Paid Time Off
Under certain circumstances, Sims get paid time off from work. Should a Sim become pregnant, she does not have to report to work and there is no threat of losing her job because of the absence.
Male Sims off for paternity leave get a similar deal. While taking time off because of the new family, Sims receive notices saying how much they earned for that day when they would have normally worked.
Part-Time Jobs
Teens can work, but they cannot get a career because they are still in school. To make a little extra money on the side, teens can seek out part-time work at jobs like the bookstore or supermarket.
Part-time work does not require the same degree of management as a full career. Part-time jobs are tricky because they can interfere with homework time, but sometimes a household needs all of the help it can get.
Adult and elder Sims can also partake in part-time jobs, but children younger than teens absolutely cannot get a part-time job of any sort.
School
Kids don’t get full-time careers like their parents. Instead, they must go to school during the week just like kids (should) do on this side of the computer screen.
Excelling at school is not all that different from excelling at a career. Students should show up for school clean and in a good mood. While at school, you set the tone for students just like you would at a career, choosing from options like Work Hard, Slack Off, and Talk to Friends.
Kids are sent back to their lots with homework that must be completed by the next day in order to get good grades. Doing well in school can result in you being able to select the trait that opens up when they turn into teens. Students that do poorly in school or are caught napping can earn detention, which keeps them after school and negatively affects their mood.
Opportunities
Just as in real life, opportunities can come out of nowhere and serve to shape your destiny. In The Sims 3, opportunities are a major driving force in Sunset Valley. They give Sims chances to reach goals and increase their happiness.
The opportunities you typically encounter are related to your Sims’ current careers, skills, or social circles. Each completed opportunity results in a reward of some form, such as extra money, skill advancement, or promotions at work.
When an opportunity arises, the story temporarily stops and you are given a chance to review the opportunity and either accept or reject it.
Some opportunities are time-sensitive. If you are offered an opportunity with a time limit, such as participating in a certain event, you are told the deadline for completing the opportunity. To earn the associated reward, you must finish the opportunity by the deadline.
You cannot just start the opportunity with five minutes to go. The required action must be finished when the timer reaches zero. You are absolutely not required to participate in an opportunity. You can ignore an incoming opportunity with no consequence save for the dismissal of the potential reward.
To track your active opportunities, use the Opportunities panel. There are three opportunity categories in The Sims 3: Career, Skill, and Special. Career opportunities are directly related to your full- or part-time work. Completing these opportunities advances your career and often results in a hasty promotion.
Skill opportunities are tied to one of the skills you are currently developing. Usually, another Sim in the community will have a request that calls on your skill expertise. The third type of opportunity, the Special opportunity, is outside your career or skill. These opportunities are received from other citizens or spotted in the newspaper.
Tip
Don’t stress out over opportunities. You can only have one active opportunity of each type at a time.
Opportunities are actually quite useful for getting outside a set routine that Sims often fall into. Some opportunities require to you to do an activity or visit another part of the city. The reward, however, is usually related to your current career or skill set.