In The Sims 4, there are several different types of careers and each one has advantages and disadvantages. The hours are variable, payments differ, and the tasks are also unique. Careers are also more flexible than ever before, with sims able to take vacations and family leave when they get pregnant or adopt sims. They can even take fake sick days!

In this guide, we take a look at career types, how they work, what the earning potential is, and what they add to your gameplay. We are just exploring the careers that you can enter via the list accessible through your phone or using a PC, rather than any money-earning avenues provided by specific skills.

Rabbit Hole Careers

The careers that came with The Sims 4 base game are often known as rabbit hole careers, as they involve your sims picking a career, then going to work via a rabbit hole event each day.

Each career has 10 levels, and promotions come with meeting targets for performance and skills. You will also have an opportunity to choose one of two different branches when you reach level 5. Going to work with your needs met and in the preferred mood will help with performance, as will working hard, being on time, and not pulling fake sick days. There are also target skill levels to reach.

These careers include Astronaut, Athlete, Business, Criminal, Culinary, Entertainment, Painter, Secret Agent, Tech Guru, and Writer.

The most well-paid career of this type is the Interstellar Smuggler branch of the Astronaut career, which pays 14,868 Simoleons per week at level 10. Alternatively, if you choose the Secret Agent career, you can earn 12,780 Simoleons a week as a Diamond Agent and 12,875 as a Villain, depending on your morality. You can also earn 12,460 Simoleons as a Boss in the Criminal Career, showing that dubious morals reap rewards when it comes to these careers.

Semi-Active Careers

The City Living expansion introduced semi-active careers, which are also sometimes referred to as work from home careers. These give your sims a choice of going to work via the usual rabbit hole system or working from home, which involves completing two specific tasks before the next workday begins.

Each day, an alarm will bring up a notification an hour before work for you to choose how you want to work that day. Rabbit hole days work like the base game careers and work from home tasks give performance boosts when completed and performance drops if sims fail.

City Living came with several careers, including Critic, Politician, and Social Media. Several other DLC packs have since broadened this selection. Seasons offers a Conservationist career, Strangerville a Military career, and Discover University gives players Education, Engineering, and Law careers. There has also been a free base game update, which gave all players the Style Influencer career.

The top-earning career in this category is the Social Media career, which gives sims 540 Simoleons an hour as an Internet Superstar or 453 Simoleons an hour as a Spin Doctor. For those without City Living, you can earn 455 Simoleons an hour in the base game Style Influencer career as a Personal Re-Imaginer (Stylist Branch).

Active Careers

Active careers allow you to follow your sims to work and influence their day directly, boosting performance and taking full control of your career. The main active careers are those from Get To Work, which are Detective, Doctor, and Scientist. Get Famous also gave players a fourth active career in the form of Actor.

For each career, sims will need to interact with others on specific lots in order to fulfill their role. Detectives are required to gather clues, interview suspects, and locate wanted sims. Meanwhile, Doctors must examine patients, diagnose illness, and treat them. If you choose the Scientist path, then your work will require analysis, lab work, and some inventing.

Actors are required to join a talent agency and then practice for and attend specific gigs. As they obtain more experience, they can take on higher-paying gigs but must pass auditions (which are rabbit holes) in order to secure the jobs. Making sure sims have the relevant skills and experience is a must, making this career more of a balancing act.

Actors can earn up to a whopping 9,800 Simoleons per gig, which takes sims hourly earnings to around the 1,000 Simoleons mark, the highest of any career. The other active careers earn players far less, with detective wages maxing out at 265 Simoleons an hour, Doctors at 280 an hour, and Scientists at just 247 an hour.

Freelance Careers

Freelancer careers combine the agency system of the acting career with the work from home tasks of semi-active careers. Once you have selected an agency, your sim must complete tasks in their chosen area in order to progress.

Producing high-quality work, by having high skills and a good mood, will help you earn a promotion from your agency and will lead to higher-paid jobs. Ambitious sims can boost their chances quickly, while lazy ones will take longer to get promoted.

Your sim can be a Digital Artist, Programmer, Writer, or Fashion Photographer. Though the Photographer career comes with the Moschino Stuff Pack, the others are all included in the base game.

The earnings are variable but similar for every branch and the careers are very flexible as you can take on as little or as much work as you like. These careers are ideal to go alongside other unofficial work, such as publishing novels or creating apps to earn royalties.

Part-Time Careers and Odd Jobs

The final jobs are part-time careers. These pay less per hour and used to be exclusive to teenage sims. Now, all sims from teenagers up can take advantage of part-time jobs. Some part-time careers even allow you to choose morning or afternoon shifts, meaning these can be done around university classes or other in-game commitments.

The core careers are Babysitter, Barista, Fast Food Employee, Manual Laborer, and Retail Employee. Those with Island Living can also access Diver, Fisherman, and Lifeguard careers, as well as the Odd Job system.

Odd Jobs require sims to either complete a task or give up some time via a rabbit hole in return for a one-off payment. There is no commitment and you can do them anytime you like within daytime hours.

In terms of money, the highest-paid part-time careers are the diving career and manual laborer careers, which can both earn sims up to 70 simoleons an hour.

There are many careers available in The Sims 4. Now, hopefully you and your sim can select the best one for them with the help of our guide.

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