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Careers - Version 8 vs Version 9
Jun 8, 2026, 11:06 PM
Removed duplicate in-body wikilinks
Jul 4, 2026, 09:56 PM
Added the Patch 0.1.5 late-to-work performance penalty and the go-to-work re-queue fix
11Careers are a major gameplay system in Paralives' Live Mode that allow Parafolk to earn paradimes, the in-game currency, so they can pay bills, buy furniture, purchase clothing, and afford other expenses. Unlike many life-simulation games where promotions follow a rigid linear ladder, careers in Paralives are intentionally non-linear. A Nurse does not get promoted into a Doctor; instead, the Nurse improves their own qualifications and salary within the nursing role, or applies for a completely different job if they want a career change.22Each job has a daily salary, a rank, a work schedule, and a designated workplace. A Parafolk can hold multiple jobs simultaneously as long as the schedules do not conflict. Teen Parafolk can hold a job alongside school in a compatible-schedule role; see School. On Day 1 of the May 25, 2026 Early Access launch, every confirmed career is delivered as a rabbit-hole shift: the Parafolk walks or buses to the workplace, the shift runs offscreen, and the end-of-day upgrade choice surfaces via the Expertise System.44Career Domains66Jobs in Paralives are organized into 11 named career domains. Each domain represents a broad industry, and within each domain are multiple specific positions at various ranks and salary levels. The domain list below has been re-confirmed in the May 7, 2026 Early Access feature recap.88DomainFocusExample PositionsArtVisual arts and creative workArtist, Gallery CuratorEducationTeaching, childcare, and academic instructionTeacher, Childcare WorkerFitnessSports, coaching, and physical trainingFitness Trainer, CoachFoodFood preparation and culinary serviceCook, WaiterHealthcareMedical support and patient careNurse, DoctorMaintenanceBuilding care and environmental upkeepJanitor, HandypersonManagementTeam leadership and organizational oversightManager, SupervisorMusicMusical performance and aptitudesMusician, Music TeacherScienceResearch, experimentation, and discoveryResearcher, Lab TechnicianServiceSales, customer assistance, and hospitalityReceptionist, Office AdministratorSoftware DevelopmentProgramming, coding, and technical problem-solvingSoftware Engineer, Developer1010Some positions are explicitly cross-listed across multiple domains. Waiter, for example, can appear under both Food and Service, so prior Waiter experience contributes to applications in either domain. The cross-listing is per-job rather than per-domain; not every Service job offers Food cross-credit.1111Named Workplaces1313Named workplaces in the launch town anchor specific career domains. These venues function as both Live Mode lots and the destinations for rabbit-hole work shifts. See Town Venues for the full venue list.1515WorkplacePrimary Domain(s)District / NotesBloomServiceDowntown plant shop with a free daily plant; service and retail-side positionsHeadlinesService, ArtHair salon in the downtown plaza; styling and customer-service positionsMuseumArt, Science, ServiceTown museum with curator, conservation, and visitor-services positions; see MuseumSuperGamezPlus Inc.Software Development, ServiceSoftware studio anchored in town; example confirmed role: Office Administrator at Rank 31 earning 1,375 paradimes per shiftSchoolsEducationLocal schools host Teacher and Childcare positions on weekday schedulesCafes (Creme Cafe, The Story Nook, etc.)Food, ServiceCafe lots host Cook, Waiter, and counter positions1717Other named lots in town (Market Antiques, L'Armoire, Premium Gym, Chez Maurice) also host career positions in the matching domain. The launch build does not publish a complete enumeration of every job-by-workplace combination; the table above lists the confirmed major anchors from the May 7, 2026 feature recap.1818Named Job Examples2020Across the eleven domains, several named positions have been confirmed in dev showcases and the EA feature recap. These are illustrative, not exhaustive.2222Job TitlePrimary DomainNotesOffice AdministratorServiceConfirmed example position at SuperGamezPlus Inc.; rank ladder reaches at least Rank 31 with 1,375 paradimes per shift at that rankReceptionistServiceCustomer-facing service role at a commercial venueCookFoodKitchen role; performance ties to cooking-related skillsWaiterFood and ServiceCross-listed across both domains; contributes Application Points to either domainJanitorMaintenanceBuilding-care positionNurseHealthcareHealthcare track; promotion to Doctor is not automatic, requires a separate applicationDoctorHealthcareHigh-Application-Point Healthcare role2424Finding Jobs2525Parafolk discover job opportunities through two main channels. Online listings can be browsed on a phone, with each listing showing the rank, daily salary, workplace, and required skills. Physical Hiring signs appear at commercial buildings around town; a Parafolk who walks past one can apply on the spot. Both channels feed into the same Application Points system.2727Application Points and Hiring2929Rather than requiring a single specific skill at a fixed level, the launch build uses an Application Points score for hiring. When applying for a job, the game tallies the Parafolk's relevant skills, prior work experience in the same domain, and any unlocked expertise from prior Expertise Upgrades. If the total meets the job's threshold, the application is automatically approved.3131This system rewards both specialist and generalist play. A Parafolk who is moderately skilled across several relevant skills can qualify for the same job as one who is highly skilled in a single area. Prior career experience also helps: a Nurse who later applies to a Doctor position uses Healthcare-domain expertise built up from past Nurse shifts.3333Daily Upgrade Choice via the Expertise System3535At the end of each successful shift, the Parafolk earns an upgrade prompt. The launch build offers three semi-random branches: Rank Upgrade (increases salary), Expertise Upgrade (unlocks portable expertise that helps future applications), and Extra Upgrade (grants a non-monetary perk such as faster skill gain or better workplace mood). The full mechanic, including cross-domain expertise transfer, lives in the Expertise System article.3737Multi-Job Mechanic3939A Parafolk can hold more than one job at the same time, provided the work schedules do not overlap. Each job tracks its own salary, rank, and expertise pool independently. Households can stack income by routing two adults through two compatible jobs, or by having a single Parafolk hold a primary day job and a compatible-schedule second role. Teen Parafolk can hold a job alongside School under the same rule; see the school article for details on the schedule overlap check.4141Performance and Mood4343Performance during a shift determines whether the daily upgrade choice fires at all. The launch build considers Vibes, Emotions, relationships with coworkers and managers, and skill progress during the workday. A Parafolk who shows up well-rested, well-fed, and emotionally stable produces better outcomes than one who arrives stressed or hungry. Consistently poor performance stalls progression entirely until the situation improves.4545Workplaces and the Rabbit-Hole Carveout4848All workplaces in the launch build function as rabbit holes. When a Parafolk goes to work, they travel to the designated workplace; the shift then runs offscreen. The player does not directly control the Parafolk's activities during work hours. Active follow-to-work gameplay is one of the most-requested post-launch additions and is tracked in Roadmap and Planned Features.5050Real lots in the open world correspond to specific job postings. A Parafolk hired at the Museum walks or buses to the Museum lot, enters the rabbit-hole shift, and emerges at the end of the day. Commute time is tracked: late arrivals can reduce performance for the day.5252Overtime and Special Cases5454Parafolk who have built enough experience in a role may unlock the option to work overtime. Overtime extends the workday beyond the standard schedule, paying additional paradimes at the cost of stretching the needs ladder thinner. Overtime is opt-in per shift; the Parafolk does not enter it automatically.5656Some careers also feature special workplaces or workplace events. Performances, special projects, and named in-world events can trigger one-off bonuses or unique interactions tied to the job. The launch build's exact list of these special cases has not been fully published; expect dev showcases over the Early Access window to surface them as they ship.5858Career Pay Examples6060Confirmed pay examples come from the dev showcases and the EA feature recap. The numbers below are reference points, not the full career ladder.6262JobConfirmed Pay ReferenceOffice Administrator at SuperGamezPlus Inc., Rank 311,375 paradimes per shiftOther rolesDaily salary scales with rank; specific per-rank values not published for every role6464Career Tie-Ins6565Careers connect to several other launch systems:6767Skill gains during shifts feed back into Skills and Knowledge progressionDaily salary credits to the household balance in Economy and BillsSchool attendance for child and teen lifestages is treated as the under-age equivalent of a career; see SchoolWorkplace relationships feed into the broader Relationships and Social SystemMany newspaper Goals hooks tie back to career-domain progression, especially for Service and Art roles6969Modding Careers7171Careers are fully moddable through the official Modding and Steam Workshop toolkit. Modders can add new domains, define new positions, adjust the Application Points thresholds, change the Expertise Upgrade pool, and tune salary scales. New careers added by mods plug into the same hiring, performance, and upgrade systems as the base build's careers.7373Day 1 Status7575Careers are confirmed Day 1. The 11 domains, the named workplaces, the Application Points hiring system, the daily upgrade choice, the multi-job mechanic, and the rabbit-hole shift carveout are all part of the launch build. Active workplace gameplay, more elaborate workplace events, additional career domains, and work-from-home variants are post-launch additions tracked in the Roadmap and Planned Features plan.7777Career Count at Launch7979The Early Access launch build ships with 126 careers grouped into themed industry domains. Coverage by industry domain (counts as confirmed against the launch-build in-game roster):8181IndustryApproximate countManagement10Healthcare5Science9Education8Food4MusicLimited (small handful)Other industriesRemaining 90 careers across additional domains8383Each career carries a daily salary, a rank ladder, a default schedule, and a workplace assigned to one of the four Melino districts. The work model is rabbit-hole: when a Parafolk goes to work, the actual job tasks happen offscreen and progress reports are surfaced as performance and salary outcomes after the shift.8484Career Schedule and Performance8686Each career exposes a drop-down menu of preset work hours and preset working days at the point of hire. The drop-down lets a player pick a schedule that fits their household plans (early mornings, evenings, weekends-off) rather than locking everyone to a single shift. Performance during the shift is influenced by the Parafolk's needs at clock-in, by mood and emotion, and by skill levels matched to the career's required disciplines.8888Job Discovery9090Use Phone -> Find a job: opens the in-game job board.Computer -> Job listings: same board, accessible at home.Job posters around town: posters near workplaces sometimes advertise a vacancy directly.92+Patch 0.1.5 Update (July 2, 2026)94+Patch 0.1.5, released on July 2, 2026, changed how being late is handled. Cancelling the Go To Work action while a Parafolk is already late now applies a performance penalty, and the same rule applies to school. The patch also fixed a bug where cancelling Go to Work or school re-queued the action every 20 minutes.
