Minimum ages for various careers

[dargo]

Many jobs in Tropico have a minimum age limit.  Even if the only alternative is unemployment, a Tropican may not take this job until they reach the minimum age.  They will not even start school to fill an open job until they meet the age requirement.

16 soldiers
18 journalists, policeman, teachers, barmaids, showgirls
21 bishops, doctors, bankers, professors, generals, priests, pitbosses

It can be a good strategy to discourage young men from taking factory jobs.   After a few years of unemployment or working as a teamster, they will happily take that open police job when they turn 18.  If they have gotten comfortable at the factory, good luck getting them to change careers.  There should be enough educated women to handle production at the factory.

Faction leanings can affect career choices.  A strongly religious man can often be persuaded to go to school and become a priest while someone who isn't religious will generally not take the job.  There are exceptions.  Communists usually don't like working at a bank.  I saw a new graduate who just started working at the bank because the only other college opening as a doctor had been filled by a previous graduate.  He was a slight communist.  After he changed to the banker's icon, he lost his communist leanings.  A few years later, he became a slight capitalist.  Ten years down the road, he was a strong capitalist.

A Tropican must be at least below average intelligence to go to high school and average intelligence to go to college.   Imigrants who already have degrees may have lower IQ than the minimum needed to attend school on Tropico.

[Junta_Joe]

Many jobs in Tropico have a minimum age limit.  Even if the only alternative is unemployment, a Tropican may not take this job until they reach the minimum age.  They will not even start school to fill an open job until they meet the age requirement.

16 soldiers
18 journalists, policeman, teachers, barmaids, showgirls
21 bishops, doctors, bankers, professors, generals, priests, pitbosses

While the latter portion of your post is mostly right, this portion is dead wrong.

The only requirements for a particular job are:

1) Acceptable faction leaning
2) Sufficient education level
3) Over age 13

I've had doctors who were 17 years old.  They started school at age 13 and stuck with it all the way through college.  Of course, my school and college was fully staffed which made for fast schooling.

[dargo]

Can you email me a saved game with 17 year old doctors.  I've never been able to get anyone that young to become a doctor?

[Junta_Joe]

At present, I'm running a different game (Stronghold), sorry.

But after about a 1000 islands over the last 2+ years, I've seen plenty exceptions to your findings.

What you are looking at is average times to get up to age and skill level.

There are many variables, such as distance from housing to school and teacher power.  Teacher power is a teaching rate based on both the number of teachers and skill level.

In any case, the rules of the game are clear.  Anyone over 13 can hold a job.  You just have to get them educated and have their faction leaning in order.

You will probably find the highest rate of education late in the game  when you can build affordable housing near the school that school pay can afford and when your teacher power is at its highest.

[Brf]

At present, I'm running a different game (Stronghold), sorry.

Stronghold is cool. I dont care much for the combat scenerios, but I like the economic ones. The one I like best is the stand-alone scenerio where you try to get a large population and then keep them all drunk for several years. The only thing I dont like about that one is that you have to build like 100 wells to put out all the fires.

[dargo]

I have attached a small island I used to do the initial tests.  It has 3 high school educated males aged 16.  Two of them are unemployed and one is employed as a soldier.  None of them will take one of the open jobs at the police station until they turn 18.  There are also several other unemployed teenagers.  None of the girls will take the open jobs at the pub or cabaret or go to school to become a teacher until they turn 18.  There is an open college professor job, yet none of the males will go to college until they turn 21.  I can build a factory, and suddenly the high school will be filled with students and the unemployed high school educated males will get jobs there.  I can fire my 16 year old soldier and he will take a job at a factory.  He will not take a job as a policeman until he turns 18.  I can build a shop or government office and some of the girls will go to school immediately.  

The high school currently has two teachers and the college one profesor.  I have both literacy campaign and social security enacted.   This is a very small island, so commute distance is not a factor.  The only other workers on the island are 3 farmers.  There are no other jobs for these young people to take, but they still stay unemployed until they reach the age limits.

 I have noticed this same thing happen on fully developed islands even with very experienced teachers and professors. There apparently are some exceptions to these rules, but they are uncomon.  Anyone who doubts me is certainly welcome to try it for themselves using this island or one of their own.  I'd like to see some exceptions because I'm really curious how this works.

[Coconut Kid]

Many jobs in Tropico have a minimum age limit. ...

While the latter portion of your post is mostly right, this portion is dead wrong. The only requirements for a particular job are:
1) Acceptable faction leaning
2) Sufficient education level
3) Over age 13
I've had doctors who were 17 years old. ...
... after about a 1000 islands over the last 2+ years, I've seen plenty exceptions to your findings.  What you are looking at is average times to get up to age and skill level. ...
In any case, the rules of the game are clear.  Anyone over 13 can hold a job.  You just have to get them educated and have their faction leaning in order. ...

Once again J_J's ego jumped ahead of accuracy.

Deep in some of the press release type stuff, Phil Steinmeyer talked about the age limitations. The "Beta" test players were upset by having young people in certain situations; so some age limitations were added.

Even though Tropicans become "adults" at 13, too many people (especially from ESRB) applied the norms of the real world to questions about child soldiers, the age for marriage, and similar issues. I can't defend the logic of the various ages established, or even if dargo got the minimums correct; but there is no doubt that they exist. Additionally, children are prohibited from entering buildings which serve booze, involve gambling, and the Cabaret -- even if they are free.

So ignore J_J's bluster; he's wrong.

[Coconut Kid]

...  Faction leanings can affect career choices.  A strongly religious man can often be persuaded to go to school and become a priest while someone who isn't religious will generally not take the job.  There are exceptions.  Communists usually don't like working at a bank.  I saw a new graduate who just started working at the bank because the only other college opening as a doctor had been filled by a previous graduate.  He was a slight communist.  After he changed to the banker's icon, he lost his communist leanings.  A few years later, he became a slight capitalist.  Ten years down the road, he was a strong capitalist.  ...

This is very important. The schools tend to tilt their graduates to a faction. The Military and Parochial options have obvious connections; it is important to use them to stabilize employment in the churches and the army. The designation "General" is misleading. It should be "Liberal" because it tilts toward the "Intellectual" and the "Environmental" factions. There is no school which tilts graduates toward either the Capitalist or Communist factions.