Big Ambitions: Hire First Employee Workflow
Hire your first employee in Big Ambitions: take the HR course, call Anderson Recruitment for customer service, pick a candidate by demands, drag them onto the register, and match their demands on the schedule so they actually work.
Core goal: Get someone on the register so you can leave the shop. The hire is not done until four things are true: course completed, person hired, dragged onto a station, and on a schedule that matches their demands and the shop's open hours. Players get stuck after the candidate appears because they think hiring alone is enough.
1Unlock Hiring Before You Walk to the Agency
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1
Finish the basic HR or business administration course
Take the course at Manhattan Business School. You cannot start a hiring campaign until this is done. Players who skip it waste a trip to Anderson and get no hire option.
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Do the course early with cheap hourly classes
Do not wait until you desperately need staff. The course is cheap and unlocks the entire hiring workflow. Finish it before you open your first shop.
2Use the Right Agency for a First Shop Hire
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Go to Anderson Recruitment Corp, not City Workforce
For a gift shop or retail first employee, you want customer service for the cash register. That comes from Anderson Recruitment. City Workforce is the office agency for HR managers, purchasing agents, and logistics. New players go there first, only see cleaners or office roles, and think hiring is broken.
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2
Walk in once and talk to the recruiter
This adds them to your phone. After that, call during business hours instead of walking across town every time.
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3
Start a campaign with the right role and age band
Business: your first shop. Role: Customer Service. Run a second campaign for Cleaning the same day if the shop is already dirty. Age band players commonly pick: 15-30, because younger candidates have fewer no-weekends or odd demands in early lists. Pay extra for a short delivery window if you need them tomorrow.
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4
Place a job board in the shop for trickle applicants
Buy a board at AJ Pederson and Son or Mr Scott's Office Supplies. Place it in the shop and leave it. Relevant applicants trickle in, about one an hour in player reports. Do not type on the board, just place it.
3Pick the Candidate by Demands, Not the Smile
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Open candidates in MyEmployees and check four things
Hourly wage you can actually pay. Full-time vs part-time. No weekends or specific days. Extra demands like clean workplace, office phone, or happy boss.
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Hire the person whose demands you can meet this week
A cheap hire who refuses weekends cannot cover Saturday and Sunday even if skill looks fine. Match demands to your shop hours before hiring.
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Customer service staff have a secondary cleaning skill
On a tiny first shop, one customer service hire can mop if you put them on a cleaning station when the register is quiet. You do not need a dedicated cleaner on day one unless dirt is already killing sales.
4Make Them Actually Work
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Assign them to this shop in MyEmployees
Hiring is not enough. Players report "she's hired, store is open, hours set, she's not here." Assignment to the specific shop is the first missing step.
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2
Give them a uniform from a locker if the shop uses uniforms
No locker or no uniform means they stand around. Buy a locker and uniforms before the hire arrives if your shop requires uniforms.
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Click and drag their name onto the cash register or cleaning station
This is the step everyone misses. Open the shop schedule and drag their name onto the station. Listing them on the calendar without dropping them on the station is the usual fail.
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4
Paint shifts that match their demands and the shop hours
Full-time usually means approximately 40-49 hours. A common player pattern is 7 hours times 7 days equals 49. If they demand no weekends, do not put Saturday or Sunday on them.
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Do not shift their days mid-week
If they already worked Monday to Thursday and you slide them to Tuesday to Friday, the game still counts the days they already worked. The 4 days or full-time check can go red until Monday reset.
5First-Hire Decisions That Matter
6Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Taking the office course path and calling City Workforce for a cashier. City Workforce is for office staff. Use Anderson Recruitment for retail customer service.
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Hiring but never dragging the name onto the station. Listing on the calendar is not enough. Drop the name on the cash register or cleaning station.
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Schedule days that violate no weekends or full-time boxes. Read the candidate's demands before painting shifts.
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Changing shifts mid-week and wondering why demand checks broke. The game counts days already worked. Wait for Monday reset.
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Opening with no uniform locker. If the shop uses uniforms, staff without a locker and uniform will stand around.
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Sitting the register yourself after the hire because they did not show. Check station assignment and schedule first. The hire is probably scheduled but not dragged onto the station.
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Hiring HR or headhunters as employee number one. HR belongs in a headquarters, not a first shop. Start with customer service.
First Hire Workflow Videos
Gift shop first hire: Anderson Recruitment, customer service campaign, and candidate pick.
First employees with manual schedule because there is no HQ or HR yet.
Full workflow: course, agency contact, campaign, pick candidate, train, assign station and hours.