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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 6:32 PM
Default What's the MOST important factor when finding a job for your sim IF you go by the game mechanism or wants?
This thread is much more general thread, as although I play with intergrated and personal preferences (I use career limits from Cyjon and Motivation levels from Eien-Herrison, but those just limited the choices), I often get intigued with the GAME's way of doing it,
...well apart from "Sim want to have a/this job. To have a/this job, go look at the newspaper/computer to find one suitable" or whatever it says.
When a sims turn into adult or get the want to have a job (which includes teens), I often find it difficult to choose their career (IF any, some are just employed). I know there are simmers goes with Integrated or BACC hoods or pure personal decisions and there have been discussions on what types of jobs your sim can have. If you play integrated hood, try to think of the situations when you've more than once choice.

For example:
Sim A is an active pleasure seeking knowledge sim who dreams to become and reach the top of the Medicine career, but after becoming an adult, she/he wish to have a job in Dance. (If including finance/lifestyle/education which doesn't impact the vanilla mechanism - this sim is particular is middle class with a athletic upbringing (i.e parents worked in dance, military, athletic etc).

HOW/WHAT would you choose, and why would you choose it?

This is sim in particular is just ONE example of what I'm trying to ask (be my guest to pick other examples as some people take them as too personal ). I often question whether to bother the LTWs, because they only seems to affect the sims aspiration. Unless the sims is rich or live in a family who has a career, obviously the sims can wait to get a job. As I'm a fast player, the sims tends to get stubborn with their wants and the one in the particular doesn't want to stop having it on their want panel. Fulfilling wants is something I've never bothered much, so I'm not sure if that makes much difference if choosing something else.

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Instructor
#2 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 6:59 PM
I don't really put much thought in it. If a Sim wants a job, or needs one to pay the bills/expand the house, I let them grab the newspaper of that day and look for jobs. The first one which matches their highest interests will be their job, and most of the time it will be their life-long job.

But I have mods which kill the wants and lifetime wants for Maxis jobs, which makes it easier to not have to wait before finally that one job appears in the newspaper. For your pleasure/knowledge Sim I would just give them the Dance career. It takes time to learn to dance (the knowledge part) and dancing is fun (the pleasure part). I'm also a fast player, but I play mostly according to their wants, and they only get stubborn with their wants if the want really fits them (for example, a baby want for a Family Sim). Wants that appear autonomously every day mean something to that Sim.
Mad Poster
#3 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 7:26 PM
For me I get them the job for the "Long Term Want" to get them into platinum status.

If there is no job in the "Long Term Want" then I get one they have a want for.

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Alchemist
#4 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 7:27 PM
generally the jobs I give sims are ones that build their aspiration's preferred skill/skills.
though if there is a specific job in Wants panel, I generally give them that job.
Mad Poster
#5 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 7:29 PM
For a long time, I used the LTW.

Yet having everyone in either the Journalism or the Gaming career seemed a bit stupid to me. And since my hood has to sea or beaches, why would a diver live there?

So Sims get the jobs that the hood needs (in my opinion, of course, because sim hoods don't really need any jobs, do they? ) Another doctor is always welcome to heal the sick masses; another teacher to teach all those twins and another chef to cater to the fine cuisine most of my sims are fond of

In my military hood, everyone goes into the military - except for those that get fired. So now there is one (he has actually resigned) scientist, one teacher, one nurse, one in the law enforcement career and two chefs (soldiers want to go on dates too ) I may also allow some to take up the entertainment career because somebody entertaining the soldiers may be fun. There are one writer (laziest sim I have ever encountered, so she sits on her backside and writes - fortunately for her, her husband is neat and loves to clean - and he is allowed a maid since he became the general).
Scholar
Original Poster
#6 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 7:50 PM
Justpetro, I tryied to do the "by hood needs" (integrated and BACC use them), but my Uberhood has over 200 households, so I find that overwhelming (used to track it BACC style, but gave up).

Though, the closest is by defining each hood with themes. River blossom (farming), I don't allow high level jobs or education but I'm not keen of having everyone in nature inspired career either, so those who exceed the rule outs, are the ones I finding hard to choose for.

Sedona - Aliens - Not allowed to work at all as they are outlawed
Strangetown - Military & Research

and the list goes ones, so similar in that aspect.

The one in example is an daughter of Carlos Contender from Belladonna Cove, but heiress to his home. Carlos dies of old age in two days and money is starting getting tight (third week in) so she need a job soon, juggling two children and raising two of her half siblings.
Alchemist
#7 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 8:19 PM Last edited by Sunrader : 17th Jan 2019 at 3:41 PM.
I used to play LTW, and since my sims don't age - well, not often - many of them are platinum now from those days. In the original question, I'd probably go with medicine. Now, though, I choose careers and even write careers purely to fit my stories. I decided that one of my less ambitious sims needed a low brow job and my bowling alley needed a manager so I created a career for him, but it stays at a low level, not progressing like Maxis careers to Bowling Alley Magnate Champion of the World. I have a sorta integrated hood, but even when my sims own businesses I usually give them jobs to match, like a lifeguard career for the guy who owns the public pool. I don't really play the career. He just stays a lifeguard and we'll see him go off to work when we are at home playing his wife. Another story driven career is my foster parent career. She stays a Foster Parent for many levels, but the chance cards guide the plot of the story.

For choices, I only use the Job Board and no age discrimination (I think) so all job choices are available to everyone. The board hangs in the local pub in most hoods.
Scholar
#8 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 8:44 PM
Like Justpetro, I find that some careers are vastly over-represented in the LTWs (usually Criminal Mastermind or Hall of Famer), and are often assigned to the most inappropriate Sims (I currently have a glut of Sims who never did their homework but want to be Minister of Education), so I no longer play exclusively to that feature.

My rule for my current hood is that university graduates can select their chosen career via Monique's computer, as can anybody with a Military LTW, but everybody else has to select from whatever is available in the newspaper (or on the computer if they can afford one). I always have them search twice, the first time to see what is available and the second time to make the actual selection. If their LTW career is available, they take that; if the LTW is not available but something is available that matches a temporary want, they take that; if nothing meets their lifetime or temporary wants, I roll a die to see which job they should take. I do occasionally look at the Sim's hobbies and interests to see what they might like, but usually the only thing I really avoid is lazy athletes.

There are a few exceptions. Male members of the royal family always go into the military early on, and will later go into politics if they become ruler of their subhood. Royal women don't generally have jobs, unless they choose politics. Plantsims don't have jobs; they raise food for the empire and care for royal children, orphans and the elderly. In Strangetown, any descendant of Olive Specter goes into the Paranormal career track, and the same will probably apply to the witch family in Emerald Heights. A couple with children may have to choose their jobs so that there will always be somebody home with the children, and may have to change jobs if a promotion messes up the childcare schedule (nannies are allowed if the alternative is forcing a Fortune Sim to stay home, but I don't like them and try to avoid them most of the time).

So if I had to pick the single most important factor for my current hood, it's probably job availability, except in those families that are required to do certain kinds of work or for those individuals who have worked hard enough in school to be allowed to contact their preferred employers directly rather than waiting for a job to be advertised.
Mad Poster
#9 Old 14th Jan 2019 at 8:55 PM
I almost never go with the LTW for jobs, because 1. Most of them are for jobs that are out of their skill/education set, and 2., they usually have a specific immediate job want rolled.
If they don't have one, I try to see if their hobby will lend itself to a job. Loves gardening, become a gardener. Cooking, likewise..etc. But those darn family pixels can drive me right up a wall. They never roll a job want. All they want to do is have babies! Unless you have a career as a social worker it's kind of stupid. (and I do in the modern game.)

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
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Field Researcher
#10 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 12:27 AM
My most important factor is availability in the newspaper.

I do allow sims to take Networking job offers and, occasionally, for a particular sim based on plot or because they had the job as a teenager, then I will select the job for them (ex. Dustin Broke, whose crime boss payed for him to go to university. No way he was taking any other career than criminal when he was done).

Most sims have to wait until the career comes up in the newspaper. Only 3 options a day, and all starting at low levels. They don't immediately become The Law or a Rock God or whatever.

As to which of the three jobs I pick, it depends on the sim. LTWs will influence if it comes up. Rolled wants will also play a role. Hobbies and their major from university (almost all my sims get degrees) too. So if someone wants to be a Mad Scientist, probably Natural Scientist or Oceonographer are easy alternatives. Sometimes, they stay unemployed for a while because none of the jobs that come up make sense for them.

Fortune sims might take a job in the slacker career just so that they are working. Pleasure sims might delay getting a job until the perfect one is listed, or they run out of money. In the past, I've allowed sims to opt into the military career, and after two seasons, to then be more able to chose the career path they want. (They served their country, now they get help getting into a different path).

But basically, I see what the newspaper has in store for them. Some sims will still want to be switched because they are clearly career focused. Other sims will just accept the job they have.

My final job rule that makes sense to talk about here is that if a Sim gets fired, they are done in that career path and cannot get a job in the same career (unless absolutely necessary for plot - curse you Dustin Broke and your terrible luck and bad choices. No wonder you're in jail).
Field Researcher
#11 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 1:01 AM
I usually ignore LTWs alltogether, they are repetitive and I don't really like the permaplat status, I feel like it makes sims lose purpose, almost. I also like to think they can change their minds on what they want to persue as they live. So unless I have a story in mind I go for the normal wants, I don't feel pressured to get promoted to the max and also if they get fired they can roll other jobs they are interested into (right? I'm not sure), everything flows just fine, works for me.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 5:42 AM
While I never played a BACC - not being aware of challenges and mods and cc when I started playing in 2005 - I think my hood is reasonably integrated in that my business owners supply everything to everyone - and my hood does, of course, has 200+ families (in the main hood ) with another 50 or so in the subhoods. I do use the cc careers for business owners and freelancers these days, so there are some potters and florists and writers around who work from home as well.

My hoods - both big ones - have started with a couple of families and then moving in more and more and building more and more lots as needed (I am taking no credit for following the rules of a BACC - I don't even know what they are, but I am reasonably sure my hoods grew a lot easier ) And it became integrated because I found it fun to send my sims to buy from other sims rather than serving a purpose - I think I only realised that my hood is actually pretty integrated (although definitely not completely) when I saw somebody defining it here.

A while back I started a smaller hood, Gardenia, where everyone farms and sell their products to each other - but it is very experimental and I am trying to learn how to use all the farming hoods around - so there are some sims there who need to go bar tending at the only waterhole at times I still have to see how that turns out in the end
Instructor
#13 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 1:25 PM
In my current hood, I'm just going by sims rolling wants for a job. I'll lock at least two job wants, and have them search for one of them on the computer. For sims that roll the generic 'get a job' want, I write down their interests and pick a custom career that fit their interests.



There's no drama, like Sims drama.

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Forum Resident
#14 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 6:41 PM
Hmmm...

I think I like to choose based on a few things. First, for my uni graduates, what did they study? If they didn't graduate, what is their LTW? I go by LTW when it's career specific, but will ignore it if it's the thousandth 'Media Magnate' in a hood for example. Not everyone gets their dream job, so I allow for sims who desperately want to be dancers but have never managed to take a dance class to end up as business professionals for example. I always need sims to staff shops and wait tables, and romance sims are especially useful for that as they like meeting other sims and socialising.

I like to look at interests when I'm really stumped for what a sim might want to do (those romance sims again) but sometimes there's also hobbies to use as well. And finally there's friendships - if a sim's friends are mostly in one field, it makes sense that the sim in question might also be more likely to get a job in that field. When that's the case I send them down to the job centre and pick the job I want for them.

When I'm feeling lazy, and a sim is poor and uneducated (and in need of funds because baby #2 is arriving and there's not even a cot for it), I have them take the first job out of the newspaper that's even remotely likely (so not a science role probably, but freelance, culinary, or, if they have a friend who owns a business and is in need of staff for it, they'll ring up said friend and get hired.)
Scholar
#15 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 8:45 PM
I mostly use the Lifetime Want to select, since to me, that represents anyrhing from a burning ambition (which should logically be reflected, in some way, by the wants) to a whim that happens to be held for a long time. It is involved, however it has an influence in the current way I play career selection.

There are multiple mods that influence how I work, as well as some preferences. The number of jobs available fluctuates, so a Sim who only gets the paper might not find any jobs at all some days. That said, adults may search for either full- or part-time work. Computers also have full- and part-time options, but always have the full array of 5 jobs a day available.

As for which jobs a Sim will take? Well, that's largely up to their interests. Most of the time, a Sim will need an interest level of at least 8 in an area I've deemed of relevance to the job (sometimes that is a tenuous link, though some have multiple interests eligible and Journalism allows any interest because the interest is what the Sim will write about). If the Sim has a degree I've deemed relevant to the career, or they hold a Lifetime Want in that job, the requirement is reduced to only an interest of 5. (Less, and I assume the lack of interest in the work would come across in the interview).

I don't want every Sim to get a job on day 1, though some always will. Sims that want a job (even one they would never actually get) will look as soon as they get the want, but those who don't find anything appropriate or don't want to look in the first place will wait until something happens that makes me think they might want a job. Whenever they do it, a want in a career they are "eligible" to take always takes preferences over any other job they are eligible to do.

A couple of the "careers" are actually degree courses for Sims who want a(nother) degree. It's assumed that if the "course listing" caught my Sim's eye, they're ready to apply for it. There are also "careers" in Unemployed and Disability Benefit - a Sim unlucky enough to see either in the search must accept the career, try to live on the pittance earned from the one short "working" day per week and remain there until fired from it. Like Coriel_Muroz, I don't allow Sims who are fired from a career to try it again, though as there are about 60 jobs (not counting being an employee of an owned business, which is exempt from the rule), there's no excuse for a Sim to not be working if work is their desire (or they were unlucky and got an unemployed/disability career).
Test Subject
#16 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 9:25 PM
I only give my Sims the job they roll a want to get. If they don't roll a want to get a job, they don't get one. If things get too dire, they apply for Welfare benefits. But I've found that almost all of my Sims eventually roll a want for a particular career path. Then, I change my LTW to match the job (if possible). The only exceptions to this are my Sims who own businesses. They don't get jobs even if they roll the want for them.

Because the LTWs are completely random and have nothing to do with the Sim's actual wants or personality, I have no problem changing them. When the Sim rolls a want for a specific career, I know that's their true wish based on their aspiration. So that's how I choose.
Instructor
#17 Old 16th Jan 2019 at 9:16 AM Last edited by TychoH : 16th Jan 2019 at 1:26 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by pleasantsims
Then, I change my LTW

Your LTW or the Sims' LTW? .
Test Subject
#18 Old 16th Jan 2019 at 1:26 PM
Quote: Originally posted by TychoH
Your LTW or the Sims' LTW? .


LOL! I mean the Sim's LTW. But I'm leaving it there.
Field Researcher
#19 Old 16th Jan 2019 at 4:31 PM
I lock one of the job wants they get when they move into a house. If they roll a want related to their LTW, then I lock that one. Otherwise I choose what fits them best. If they don't roll a job want, they don't get a job unless I roll an ROS.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 16th Jan 2019 at 8:17 PM
Quote: Originally posted by pleasantsims
Because the LTWs are completely random and have nothing to do with the Sim's actual wants or personality, I have no problem changing them. When the Sim rolls a want for a specific career, I know that's their true wish based on their aspiration. So that's how I choose.

This is why I use Pescado's "ltwvariety" mod. It makes the LTW actually relevant. I sometimes have to re-roll a new sim's LTW with the batbox or blender to get it to pick up the mod, but the LTWs almost always make sense now.

Quote: Originally posted by Pescado
Lifetime wants for careers are no longer strictly aspirationally correlated, and will instead vary by appropriate interests and personality. Career-wants for varying careers may appear outside of aspirational boundaries due to family influence, and sim personalities will match desired occupation. Crazier lifetime wants (Marry Off 6 Children, Have 6 Grandchildren) will disappear in neighborhoods of advanced age and therefore population to slow down Armageddon.

(requires NL or later)
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/f...r=al%2Fhacks%2F
Mad Poster
#21 Old 16th Jan 2019 at 8:48 PM Last edited by grammapat : 17th Jan 2019 at 4:56 AM.
What RoxEllen said. PLUS: since that Family sim rolled a want for 200 lovers (or whatever the silly thing is), I change her want to something appropriate, like Golden Anniversary. Lots of teens roll a LTW for things that will NEVER happen, like: Graduate 3 kids from college - I'm not going to have a college in this hood. I change LTW for teens a LOT! If I've been playing them since toddlers and they kept wanting a bush or to catch butterflies, they are going to get a LTW that involves nature or the outdoors; science, adventure, oceanography. If they've been running around the house cleaning up after everyone since they were a kid, they will be a scientist (requires the most cleaning skills). Then there are my alien hoods; I have some cool sci-fi careers, but there is no corresponding LTW. Likewise, for those lazy/loopy Sims, I have funny jobs (which have no LTW), or they can go from job to job, being fired from being a cement mixer, a water-boy, and every other beginning job, until they just give up and stay home. They are the ones that get to play with babies all day, but never are told to clean anything. Oh, and of coarse I give Sims jobs via blender or job board, where every job is available. And for adults that TO ME are serious and hard working, an "honorary" college degree is usefull.
PS at the moment I have a male and a female Romance sim who are paid by their "clients" with expensive gifts...they do not officially have a job, but we know they are working it...

Stand up, speak out. Just not to me..
Forum Resident
#22 Old 17th Jan 2019 at 5:59 AM
I don't do LTW anymore. If I did, half my sims would be in the culinary career. I try to look at a combination of aspiration, LTW, personality and interests, plus any additional character traits or storylines I've created for them. If I'm still undecided, I make something up!

The household I'm playing at this moment is a couple who are both popularity sims. Joshua's secondary aspiration is knowledge, his hobby enthusiasm for film and literature is maxed out, and he has a high interest in culture and entertainment. He also has 1 active point under his personality, so show business and its 10 body skill points were definitely out. I made him a journalist and he also writes novels on the side. I'm also not going to have him go all the way to level 10 and become a media magnate, because since it's not his LTW, he doesn't need to.

Payton's secondary aspiration is family. I couldn't figure out what I wanted for her at first, but I had a toy business built that I wanted someone to run. Joshua is an only child, and they inherited a lot of money when his parents moved to the retirement home, so I decided to have her buy the toy store. She has 10 outgoing points, which works well with sales, high arts and crafts enthusiasm and creativity to build toys. And since she runs her shop, she can make her own hours while their daughter is at school.

If I followed the LTW, Joshua would be a chef and Payton would be a rock star. Neither of those seemed fitting for these sims. Both those careers are also a lot of evening and weekend hours, and these two want to throw parties, not be working every night of the week so they never have time to see their friends.
Mad Poster
#23 Old 17th Jan 2019 at 9:48 AM
I look at it this way. How many real people ever even get close to their dream careers much less their dream jobs? Just because a sim has a LTW doesn't mean that he or she will ever get the opportunity to try to achieve it.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 17th Jan 2019 at 1:13 PM
Depends, Sometimes on both (just to get extra aspiration points when multiple job offers simultaneously those that are in the want. Usually, priority takes the Job of LTW which they will choose and keep for the remainder of the life before the WANT. If none of those pop, I might give them the one I see fit as the progressing alludes or have them start their own-money making activity. If the job offering of the LTW and from WANTS isn't available, I give them the highest paying job on the track it pops temporarely until the desirable job or with a better wage/schedule appears in the job advertisement panel.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Alchemist
#25 Old 17th Jan 2019 at 3:40 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
I used to play LTW, and since my sims don't age - well, not often - many of them are platinum now from those days. In the original question, I'd probably go with medicine. Now, though, I choose careers and even write careers purely to fit my stories. I decided that one of my less ambitious sims needed a low brow job and my bowling alley needed a manager so I created a career for him, but it stays at a low level, not progressing like Maxis careers to Bowling Alley Magnate Champion of the World. I have a sorta integrated hood, but even when my sims own businesses I usually give them jobs to match, like a lifeguard career for the guy who owns the public pool. I don't really play the career. He just stays a lifeguard and we'll see him go off to work when we are at home playing his wife. Another story driven career is my foster parent career. She stays a Foster Parent for many levels, but the chance cards guide the plot of the story.

For choices, I only use the Job Board and no age discrimination (I think) so all job choices are available to everyone. The board hangs in the local pub in most hoods.


I added something new to this idea this week. I started using SimSurgery to change some service NPCs working on unowned lots to look like playables. So, now when we go visit the bowling alley, the two playables with the Bowling Alley Manager job will appear to be there working their way up. I could have someone own the lot and hire them, but I don't really enjoy running large businesses, so this works well for me.
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