Project Zomboid Occupation Guide

While there are no “best” professions or traits in Project Zomboid, understanding each of them will be extremely important for your success.

Starting a new character in Project Zomboid will happen a lot, especially when starting out. But that is why character creation is so robust, giving you a lot of options when setting up a new survivor. Carefully choosing a profession and the traits you start with can make or break a run, so let’s dive in and see what each of them offers.

Unemployed

• Starting Points: +8;
• Skills: None;
• Description: The ideal occupation if you don’t necessarily have a clear plan in your head for this character and want some extra points for traits.

Burglar

• Starting Points: -6;
• Skills: +2 Lightfooted, +2 Nimble, +2 Sneaking;
• Description: If you’d rather slink through the shadows instead of engaging in combat, the Burglar might be the perfect choice for you. All of his skills will help you better navigate and sneak past hordes. As an added bonus you can hotwire vehicles by default with the Burglar occupation (you would need two points in Mechanics and one in Electrical otherwise);

Burger Flipper

• Starting Points: +2;
• Skills: +2 Cooking, +1 Maintenance, +1 Short Blade;
• Description: This is a decent enough occupation, even though Cooking is a skill that becomes truly useful in the long run. Maintenance is a very useful skill though, making your melee weapons last longer. And since short blades are in abundance, starting out with an experience bonus is great.

Carpenter

• Starting Points: +2;
• Skills: +3 Carpentry, +1 Short Blunt;
• Description: If you’re sick of occupying already existing buildings and want to try out building your own, this is a great starting occupation. On top of the Carpentry bonus you also know how to better use hammers and other small blunt weapons from the start;

Construction Worker

• Starting Points: -2;
• Skills: +1 Carpentry, +3 Short Blunt;
• Description: Kind of the opposite of the Carpenter, this occupation focuses more on fighting with short blunt weapons instead of building things. Since short blunt weapons are pretty abundant, this is not a bad occupation if you want to engage in combat as early as possible.

Chef

• Starting Points: -4;
• Skills: +3 Cooking, +1 Maintenance, +1 Short Blade;
• Description: This occupation used to give you access to some recipes from the start, but that feature is bugged. So this is just a worse Burger Flipper since you’ll be spending a total of 6 trait points for a +1 in Cooking, which is absolutely not worth it.

Doctor

• Starting Points: +2;
• Skills: +3 First Aid, +1 Short Blade;
• Description: Even though it’s a cheap occupation, it doesn’t offer much in a world where a single bite means game over. If you’re playing on a multiplayer server, this can be useful for your party of friends, making you the designated healer.

Electrician

• Starting Points: -4;
• Skills: +3 Electrical;
• Description: Besides the Electrical bonus which doesn’t really offer much, the Electrician does start out with the know-how of operating and fixing generators from the start. Since the booklet to learn those skills is rather easy to find in a school or library, this makes it a pretty expensive occupation for what you get.

Engineer

• Starting Points: -4;
• Skills: +1 Carpentry, +1 Electrical;
• Description: Besides the skills that it gives which are pretty handy, the Engineer also gives you access to some traps and explosives that can’t normally be learned through recipe magazines. So if you wanna experiment with a Home Alone styled safehouse, give the Engineer a try.

Farmer

• Starting Points: +2;
• Skills: +3 Farming;
• Description: If you’re planning on surviving for as long as possible on a nice little farm out in the rural areas of the map, the Farmer occupation can be a great choice.

Fisherman

• Starting Points: -2;
• Skills: +3 Fishing, +1 Foraging;
• Description: Besides the skills that can allow you to survive in the wilderness easily, the Fisherman occupation also has a small bonus to his search mode, making it easier to find items when foraging.

Fire Officer

• Starting Points: 0;
• Skills: +1 Axe, +1 Fitness, +1 Sprinting, +1 Strength;
• Description: A decent all-rounder emphasizing physicality, the Fire Officer is a decent start for people who want a survivor who can get in and out of danger with ease. And since you can craft your own axes if you forage for sharp stones, that axe bonus can be extremely useful in the long run;

Fitness Instructor

• Starting Points: -6;
• Skills: +3 Fitness, +2 Sprinting;
• Description: Even though it costs a lot, the Fitness Instructor does give you an edge when running away from a horde. This can be even more useful if you’re playing with sprinter zombies since your average survivor will have issues getting away from them;

Lumberjack

• Starting Points: 0;
• Skills: +2 Axe, +1 Strength;
• Description: For fans of axes, the Lumberjack is a great starting occupation. They will swing axes 25% faster (combat and chopping trees) and 50% more damage when cutting trees. You will also move faster through forests while also finding items easier when in search mode;

Mechanic

• Starting Points: -4;
• Skills: +3 Mechanics, +1 Short Blunt;
• Description: Vehicles are an important part of the game since the world map is huge and you also need a mobile place to store your items in. The Mechanic will make it easier to fix cars and can fix any model without the proper magazine. Just make sure to scavenge for the needed tools and hold on to any short blunt weapons since you will perform better with them;

Metalworker

• Starting Points: -6;
• Skills: +3 Metalworking;
• Description: If you’re interested in building your own metal fort, the Metalworker can be a decent start. Outside of that though, it costs a ton of trait points while offering one of the more obscure skills available to you. It can also prove useful if you want to repair cars since repairing certain parts requires metalworking points.

Nurse

• Starting Points: +2;
• Skills: +2 First Aid, +1 Lightfooted;
• Description: Nurses are basically a weaker Doctor for the same amount of trait points. They can move quieter due to the Lightfooted skill but they lack any combat skills. In a multiplayer group this can still be a pretty useful occupation, so don’t completely overlook it.

Park Ranger

• Starting Points: -4;
• Skills: +1 Axe, +1 Carpentry, +2 Foraging, +2 Trapping;
• Description: A great occupation to survive in the wilderness, the Park Ranger can wield axes and build a decent base. He also has increased speed when walking through a forest and will more easily find items with search mode.

Police Officer

• Starting Points: -4;
• Skills: +3 Aiming, +1 Nimble, +2 Reloading;
• Description: If you’re interested in gunning down hordes of zombies, the Police Officer might be the perfect occupation. The bonus experience that you get from the Aiming skill points is extremely beneficial since Aiming is very hard to raise due to the scarcity of ammo.

Repairman

• Starting Points: -4;
• Skills: +1 Carpentry, +2 Maintenance, +1 Short Blunt;
• Description: Even though it might look like an occupation relegated to base building, the Repairman is extremely useful for melee combat. The Maintenance skill influences the durability of all melee weapons, while also increasing the odds of successfully repairing one. This is even more important if you’re interested in using spears or hand-crafted axes since they both suffer from low durability.

Security Guard

• Starting Points: -2;
• Skills: +1 Lightfooted, +2 Sprinting;
• Description: Besides the skills that will allow you to sprint for longer or quietly sneak past hordes, the Security Guard also gets the Night Owl trait. This trait will make your character need less sleep, allowing you to do more things during the daytime.

Veteran

• Starting Points: -8;
• Skills: +2 Aiming, +2 Reloading;
• Description: Like I already stated, any points in Aiming can help out immensely during a run if you want to rely on firearms. But what makes the Veteran special is the fact that he also gets the special Desensitized trait. This trait will ensure that you survivor will never panic, no matter how big of a horde you’re engaging. And since being panicked will lower your accuracy with melee and ranged weapons, this can be an extremely useful occupation for people who thrive in combat.

 Conclusion

Alongside traits, occupations are an important part of character creation in Project Zomboid that shouldn’t be ignored. While you can make do with choosing one at random, once you get some experience under your belt, you’ll start seeing more value in particular ones. And when it comes to multiplayer, choosing the right occupation that complements your friends can be extremely important. There is no point every player in your group to try and become a jack of all trades when specialization works better. So go out there and experiment with these various occupations until you identify the ones that work best for your playstyle.