Law enforcement- not sure what to do

[Janna]

I've focused too much on my sims art career and have fallen down on the job with hubby, who is in law enforcement.  He was advanced to forencis and I'm not sure what he is supposed to do.
He has had it pop up twice that his partner has not completed some cases and is he willing to take the blame.  I said yes, as it build co-workers relationship.  But it is hurting him career wise.       I guess it is a good thing his partner died, now he won't have to cover for him.  Hoping his new partner is willing to shoulder his load, because not doing any more covering.

He was given a laptop, so I am making a guess he is supposed to write reports.  But is he supposed to do interviews, search trash?  How do I know when he should do that?

My sim is doing good enough that I can ignore her for the most part.  She is master at her level, most of her paintings are brilliant or masterpieces.  She can afford to goof off for a while.  I will make sure all her bars are full in the morning and she should be fine on her own.   

So, how do I help him with his career?  He has improved his logic skills, his athletic skills, he has started to paint to help in that area.  So, now how do I help him get out of the hole I accidently put him in?

[Janna]

RATS, RATS, RATS,  didn't read title and wrote now instead of NOT

modified title, didn't look up to see modify button, just down for edit. 

[Ricalynn]

Janna to correct any misspellings or to just correct your title.  Look at your post above and hit the modify button.  It will allow you to make all the changes you needed without having to double post.

As for the Law Enforcement Career problem, when you have control of the hubby (meaning you click his portrait on the left), go to his career tab and see what metrics he is supposed to have.  I think forensics is based on logic and painting so you'll need to work on those skills.  Writing reports may be necessary but you'll only know if you look at the metrics (or smiley faces), if so, just have him question a neighbor or dig through the trash at night.

I would really suggest making sure to read the lessons that game with the game, too.  It's the ? Tab on the popup window in the top right corner.  They have a lot of really good lessons that could probably answer some of your questions.  If nothing pops up, you can also select lessons from the menu.   Carl is also full of guides for all the careers of Sims 3.

[Janna]

Thanks,
Didn't see the modify at the top, looked for edit at the bottom, should have looked up.

I can blame on only three hours sleep, coughing all night.  I hate being sick. 

I had checked the info on him,  that clued me in he was falling behind on the job in report and such.   I didn't think to check lessons, have read up here on the site, so far it talks about doing it , but no specific on how; but I could be (probably am) ovelooking it. 

Note to self, don't ask questions when really tired.  Take a nap instead. 

Thanks again for the help.

[Orange Iguana]

Reports require access to a computer (you were given a laptop so you're okay). There's two ways to get a report: Interviews and trash rummaging, I prefer the latter but I'll explain both.

Interviews: Introduce yourself to a sim, get friendly with him a little, and one of the friendly interactions will be "Question." If you're friendly enough, you'll start to interview the sim and he or she will tell you all of his or her traits. Once you're done interviewing, use the computer and go into the writing section. Hit "Report on" and pick the sim you interviewed to write a report on him. Repeat the process as necessary to get more reports. Be careful though, if your relationship with a sim is too high, you won't be able to interview him/her. If your sim has the Celebrity challenge completed in charisma and the Attractive LTR, then it basically becomes impossible to interview sims.

Trash Rummaging: This is easy, go to a sim's house, click on his outdoor trash can, and hit "Rummage." Your sim will dig through his trash and when he's done, you'll get a message saying you have enough juicy info to write a report. Make sure to get rid of the trash in your sim's inventory. Use your computer, go into the writing section, and hit "Report On" to write the report. Trash rummaging isn't recommended if you're a celebrity but it lets you skip the whole friendship thing. If you have the Celebrity challenge in charisma completed and have the Attractive LTR, this becomes the only way to be able to write reports.

[Hosfac]

He has had it pop up twice that his partner has not completed some cases and is he willing to take the blame.  I said yes, as it build co-workers relationship.  But it is hurting him career wise.       I guess it is a good thing his partner died, now he won't have to cover for him.  Hoping his new partner is willing to shoulder his load, because not doing any more covering.

These are just random events that you can use to either improve your relationship with your partner or improve your career.  There are a few careers that have them.

He was given a laptop, so I am making a guess he is supposed to write reports.  But is he supposed to do interviews, search trash?  How do I know when he should do that?

He should do this regularly.  You can do these reports by interviewing people (it's a social option that requires a small bit of a relationship level and that the Sim your talking to thinks your Sim is being "friendly" to be successful) or by digging through their trash (which is done by clicking on the trash can of any occupied house).  Once you have done either, you get an option to write a report on someone.

So, how do I help him with his career?  He has improved his logic skills, his athletic skills, he has started to paint to help in that area.  So, now how do I help him get out of the hole I accidently put him in?

The best way to improve his career is to make sure his job metrics are high.  You can see these by looking at your Sim's career panel in the player interface at the bottom of the screen.  Green smiley faces mean that you're maxed for what is required for that particular career level (i.e. improving it further won't make your career advance) and if they're yellow or red, you need to work on them.  Your partner is part of this, and to improve your relationship with him, select "Chat with Partner" in the drop down menu below the work action icon.  It's not a good idea to select "Work Hard" unless your Sim is a Workaholic, as you'll spend your evenings doing nothing but raising their fun because they get stressed.  Finally, sending them to work in a good mood is also very important.

[Janna]

What has me confused is that there has never been anything that said for him to interview anyone, or look for anything, nothing that has given me a clue toward what the report was to be about.  When I clicked on his laptop, all it would show was writing a book.

He received a promotion and a raise his bosses are pleased with his work and postive feedback is given.   All of the metrics are in a good level except the one about writing reports.  Which is what has/had me confused.  I am spending a LOT of time playing, one sick and another to keep my mind off the fact that I lost my girl.  She lived a long life (17 years) for a dog but still.  Anyhow, he has gone from being forenics to now 3D and has been given a permanent raise. 
Besides the lack of reports, he seems to be advancing, although I have nothing to compare him to, so it could be a slower rate than what it should be.

On the bright side, he and Alexis are expecting their first.  If it is a girl and she has dark skin and hair like her daddy, I will name her Gypsy.  Gyps was a Man. Terrier, toy. 

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Could it have anything to do with the latest patch, my not having it?  I saw another thread with what seems to be the same problem, police can't do interviews.  I don't have Showtime, just the base game and WA, but was only at 131 patch.  I downloaded the latest one, 133 and I guess I get to find out if that could be the problem. 

[callycat]

What has me confused is that there has never been anything that said for him to interview anyone, or look for anything, nothing that has given me a clue toward what the report was to be about.  When I clicked on his laptop, all it would show was writing a book.

******************************

Could it have anything to do with the latest patch, my not having it?  I saw another thread with what seems to be the same problem, police can't do interviews.  I don't have Showtime, just the base game and WA, but was only at 131 patch.  I downloaded the latest one, 133 and I guess I get to find out if that could be the problem.

You have to either do an interview with someone or dig through someone's trash to get the option to come up on the computer - it comes up under writing as you would expect. As others have said, go for the trash digging and it will tell you when you have found something to write about. Only do one at a time as you'll have to write that report before you investigate anyone else.

Good luck!

Cal

[CSquared2]

I rarely take the interview route; I prefer rummaging through trash.   

When you do rummage, let the sim continue rummaging until he stops on his own.  I believe a home's residents can interrupt him, so I try to pick houses where there's no one home.  (The option to visit the household will be grayed out when you try to select it.)  He'll rummage and find some random stuff, occasionally something valuable, but you shouldn't make him stop until you get a notification that he's found a valuable tidbit on So-and-so.  Then you'll find you have the option to write a report on the computer.

In my experience, writing one report doesn't always result in a change in the smiley used to indicate that component's contribution to your sim's job performance meter.  Two reports always results in some gain for me.  Just something to remember if he's already behind in that area.

And for what it's worth, if he's high in all the other components, you don't necessarily have to bother with reports.  As long as you see the green arrow pointing upward in his job action, his job performance is improving.  It might not improve quite so quickly as it would if his reports were better, but three out of four will still see a promotion every four or five days.  As Hosfac suggested, Work Hard is not a good idea.  The better mood he gets from Taking It Easy improves his performance just as much, it gives him a nice, fat, long-lasting positive moodlet and doesn't stress him out, all at the same time.  As for the partner, try and put a phone call in once a day to them to chat until they're best friends.  Then you can choose Chat With Partner for just a little while each work day to maintain their relationship.