Just thinking out loud here.
I just feel jobs should have an impact. For one, specific positions should be limited. Can only be one mayor of your town, one chief of police, etc.
So there might actually not be a job opening in some branches when there's already many sims with that position, or they may have to compete with someone else for a promotion. Or prove to be better than the current sim holding the position they want.
Also, each career branch should affect the town in a different way.
For a simple example: Cops and crime. Have many cops, there's less crime. Have many criminals, you'll get more burglars and maybe some other crimes. Police would serve a function, and when crime is on the rise it would give sims growing up in that a legit reason to want to be a cop. Great for story telling to have this back and forth.
For politics, the mayor could have some power and be able to propose edicts similar to what a monarch can do in sims medieval. This could include stuff like police being tougher on crime, fining sims for littering and putting them in jail for fighting.
People in various political positions under the mayor could vote for it, their traits could affect how they vote.
The army career should come with a chance of sims being send on a mission, for a period of time. Pop up messages could affect some decisions, and if you choose poorly or their abilities aren't good enough they might return dead. Joining the army has that risk.
On the other hand they could also win medals or promotions by making the right decisions.
I just feel jobs should have an impact. For one, specific positions should be limited. Can only be one mayor of your town, one chief of police, etc.
So there might actually not be a job opening in some branches when there's already many sims with that position, or they may have to compete with someone else for a promotion. Or prove to be better than the current sim holding the position they want.
Also, each career branch should affect the town in a different way.
For a simple example: Cops and crime. Have many cops, there's less crime. Have many criminals, you'll get more burglars and maybe some other crimes. Police would serve a function, and when crime is on the rise it would give sims growing up in that a legit reason to want to be a cop. Great for story telling to have this back and forth.
For politics, the mayor could have some power and be able to propose edicts similar to what a monarch can do in sims medieval. This could include stuff like police being tougher on crime, fining sims for littering and putting them in jail for fighting.
People in various political positions under the mayor could vote for it, their traits could affect how they vote.
The army career should come with a chance of sims being send on a mission, for a period of time. Pop up messages could affect some decisions, and if you choose poorly or their abilities aren't good enough they might return dead. Joining the army has that risk.
On the other hand they could also win medals or promotions by making the right decisions.