As you may know by now, if you complete the Chef Branch of the Culinary Career, then move onto a new job, and then decide you want to be in the Culinary Career again, you will not have the option of joining the Culinary Career. You will only be able to join the "new" "Chef" Career.
You start at Level 1 of the Chef career with the title of "Head Caterer." Head Caterer is also (or actually) the title for someone in Level 6 of the Culinary Career, who has selected the Chef Branch.
Confused yet?
Well, this phenomenon, which happens anytime you reach Level 10 of a career, quit, and then rejoin that career, is causing a lot of serious issues. In fact, I've been procrastinating posting about it because it is so complicated, but it is a really big problem that everyone should know about before you attempt to complete one of these "special" careers, which are really only the last 5 levels (or 6 levels if Tech Guru: Villain Branch).
So here's the problem. In order to advance in many of these careers, you must perform special actions that are unlocked by reaching certain levels of that career. However, since you are in "Level 1" of the "Chef" career, you WILL NOT be able to perform any special actions associated with being at "Level 6" of the Culinary Career." For some reason the game forgets that you are actually in the Chef Branch of the Culinary Career and thinks you are in some new career called the "Chef Career."
For example, right now my sim is in "Level 4" of the "Chef Career," and he must write a cookbook in order to be promoted. I have tried over and over writing cooking skill books (even though I know that they are not the same thing because I have written a cookbook before the first time around in this career), but no matter what, I cannot get credit for writing a cookbook nor do I ever get the option to do so.
Basically, my sim is permanently stuck in "Level 4" of the "Chef Career," and has absolutely no way of advancing so it's time for me to give up and switch careers...
I have another sim in the same situation. He is in "Level 2" of the "Oracle Branch Career" and must "Successfully Hack Into the Mainframe 3 Times" in order to be promoted. The problem is the same as before. At the true Level 2 of the Criminal Career, your sim does not yet have the option to hack the mainframe. So, even though his title of "Elite Hacker" should be Level 7 of the Criminal Career, it only registers as "Level 2," and he is also hopelessly stuck in place and needs to give up and move on to another job.
Sorry for the extremely detailed description (I was once a game tester and wrote these descriptions for a living haha), but I hope it helps others who will get stuck in this same very confusing situation.
I will go post this on the Official EA/Maxis Sims 4 bug forum now I guess and hope they come up with a remedy soon.
