I've had this happen on one of my sims. No jobs. I guess she'll need a new career. And in my current family, the guy has had a ton of failed jobs (the squalor comment), and I can't see a darned thing wrong. I'm not deleting needed objects, and it paths just fine. So I give up and move on.
I learned the are way to not drag photos out of your portfolio. It doesn't appear that they can ever go back. Also, stay on the lot (you, not the sim) in case it wants a photo. If you're with another sim, it won't cut back to take the photo. At least mine doesn't.