Job Market Overhaul

Are you tired of Sims being able to instantly join any career?

I was, so I started making this mod. Mainly for myself 😄.

Job Market Overhaul changes the way Sims look for work. Instead of choosing a career and being hired immediately, Sims can browse specific job listings, prepare a resume, write a cover letter for the position they want, submit an application, wait for an employer reply, and decide whether to accept or decline an offer.

Browse job listings

Sims can browse job listings on the phone or the computer. The job board is not limited to career names. A career can have several available positions at different levels or on different branches. Each listing shows the position title, hourly pay, schedule, career description, and the requirements that apply to that position.

Only a limited number of job listings are available and listings for lower career levels are more likely to show up than higher levels. The job board updates every 24 Sim hours.

Write a resume

In the Career menu on the computer Sims can now write a resume. The resume will capture the Sim's background at the time of writing the resume (education, skill certificates, work experience). The resume can later be updated to include Sim's additional experience, education etc.

Apply for a job

After starting a job application the Sim has to write a cover letter specifically for that application and submit the application.

After submitting the application, there's nothing left to do other than wait for the employer to review it. The employer will make the decision based on the resume and the cover letter attached to the application - later resume updates and education/ experience acquired after the last resume update and after submitting the application will not be considered.

Employer decision

By default the employer will reply during the business hours on the next business day (wait time can be adjusted in the settings).

The employer will evaluate whether the Sim meets the requirements specified in the job listing.

Education and experience. The mod will track a Sim's experience in specific careers. The experience is counted in days and every day that a Sim is in a career counts, including vacation days and days off. Each job listing above level 1 has an experience requirement and the amount of experience required is scaled based on lifespan settings. Lower career levels require any previous work experience while higher levels require experience in that specific career.

If you have Discover University installed, a university degree will allow a Sim to apply to a higher position without prior experience or with a smaller experience requirement (this can also be disabled in the settings). The relevant degree is listed in the job listing. If a job requires both a university degree and some work experience and a Sim has graduated with honors or has a distinguished degree, they have a higher chance of getting an offer for that job even without experience.

If you have High School Years, some careers will require a high school degree (same as in the vanilla game) and a high school dropout will not be successful in applying for those jobs.

Since in the vanilla game Sims that graduated high school with grade B or A can jump to career levels 2 and 3 respectively, they will also have a higher chance of being accepted for a job at levels 2 and 3 even when they don't meet the experience requirements.

Skills. The job listings show all the skill levels that a Sim would have had to achieve to be promoted to that career level as career requirements. A Sim receives partial credit when they are close to a required level. A skill above the target gives a small bonus.

Career strictness. Jobs are divided into three categories based on how strict their entry requirements are - strict, soft and learn-on-the-job.

For learn-on-the-job jobs the employer expects some training after hiring. Skill or experience gaps lower the chance, but a partly qualified Sim still has a high chance of getting an offer. Examples: levels 1–2 of the Business career, levels 1–4 of the Gardener, Painter, and Entertainer careers

For soft jobs the jobs, the listing describes the preferred applicant. A Sim with small gaps can still receive an offer, especially with a good cover letter or other qualifications. Examples: levels 3–10 of the Business career, levels 5–10 of the Painter and Entertainer careers

When it comes to strict jobs, employers expect applicants to meet the requirements and falling short lowers the chance of an offer significantly. Examples: levels 4–10 of the Astronaut and Doctor careers

The employer will also evaluate the cover letter quality. Cover letter quality depends on the writing skill and the Sim's education level.

Even a fully qualified or overqualified Sim can still be rejected. The maximum possible acceptance chance is 98%.

Is this job for me?

If the application is unsuccessful, the Sim will receive a rejection notification.

If the application is successful, the Sim will get a notification saying that they have been offered a job. After that you can either accept or decline the offer in the Career menu on the computer. The offer is valid for 24 Sim hours.

If you accept the job offer, the Sim will immediately join the career at the level that they applied for.

A Sim can have up to 3 active job applications at the same time.

Settings

In the settings menu (click on a Sim > Actions > JMO Settings) you can:

• change how work experience accumulates - every day that a Sim is employed in a career, or only after a finished shift
• change whether relevant university degrees make Sims eligible for higher levels of a career
• change when the employer replies
• change how fast job offers expire
• change how many job listings are displayed overall and per career
• adjust application acceptance difficulty
• refresh job listings immediately
• change how many days of work experience a Sim has in each career (for example for Sims that already have work experience when the mod is installed)

Compatibility

• Compatible with patch 1.126.58.1030 (21 July 2026 update)
• The mod currently creates an application process only for adult full-time careers. Adult part-time jobs have a separate menu ("Get a Part-Time Job" on the computer or the phone) and the sim can join any part-time job immediately like in the vanilla game. The same currently goes for Freelance careers, Acting and Interior Decorator as for those careers the current application system does not make sense in my opinion - those careers can be joined from the "Become a Freelancer" menu.
• Teen Sims can browse adult job listings, but they cannot start an application until they become a young adult. Teen jobs continue to use the normal vanilla system.
• Custom careers are supported - any custom career that would show up in the vanilla Find a Job menu, can be applied to with this mod. The mod supports career specific custom career experience tracking of up to 5 custom careers per Sim. If a Sim already has tracked experience in 5 custom careers and joins a new custom career, the experience of that new career will be saved as "experience in other careers" i.e., not as experience in a specific custom career like the first 5 tracked custom careers. For EA careers the number of careers with tracked experience is unlimited.
• Also compatible with Kuttoe's Career Overhaul Suite and should be compatible with other mods that change promotion requirements, pay or schedules. The changes made by those mods will show up in the job listings.
• The mod will conflict with any mods that override the vanilla Find a Job interactions.

Features planned for future updates

• Job interview process
• Counteroffers
• Networking
• Separate application systems for part-time jobs, freelance, acting and Interior Decorator careers
• Transferable work experience in related careers
• Labor market events (labor shortage, high unemployment etc)

Requirements

• XML Injector is required for the mod to work.
• The mod is designed to work with only the Base Game installed and will show careers that come with any DLCs you have installed. Discover University is required to see university degree requirements.

Installation instructions

Install through CurseForge

or

Download the attached .zip file, extract it and place the extracted files in your mods folder (Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods). The .ts4script file should be no more than 1 folder deep.

Enable mods in game settings:

• Launch The Sims 4.
• Navigate to Game Options > Other.
• Enable the following settings.

✅ "Enable Custom Content and Mods"

✅ "Script Mods Allowed"

• Click the Apply Changes button and restart the game.