What your character did before the adventure, defining their starting skills and giving them a unique feature.
The characters you and your squad play during a campaign of The Far Wastes likely haven’t done this sort of thing their whole lives. If you start the campaign at a higher level than 1, it’s possible they have some experience with adventuring, but even they had a time before all that.
Perhaps they helped protect their hometown, or worked in some lab or medical centre, or even engaged in piracy to get by. And what of the unfortunate souls who somehow made it to the Post-Poc from the time before?
Each of these can be represented with a Job.
All Jobs grant skill Interests - letting you improve them with skill points as you level up - as well as a few starting skill points. They also each have some Feature that reflects the knowledge, experience, or connections gained during your time in that job.
Jobs are listed as either Pre-Poc or Post-Poc for convenience. Some contain Jobs that are, in many ways, mirrors of each other, but they are always slightly different. Only characters playing as Pre-Poc Humans can choose Pre-Poc Jobs; they were the only ones around back then, after all.
Do note that choosing to play a Pre-Poc Human doesn’t mean you have to have a Pre-Poc Job. If your character has only just reached the Pre-Poc (by waking up from cryogenic statis, for example) at the start of the campaign then it’d probably make the most sense, but a Pre-Poc Human could live for long enough in the Post-Poc to count as having a Post-Poc Job.
You worked for a pharmaceutical company, remote laboratory, government agency, or perhaps just recklessly tinkered at home with a personal chemistry set. You are most likely highly trained in this very complex field, and well aware of the thriving market for both recreational and medical compounds prior to the end of the world. That said, it’s likely the medical ones that’ll prove useful to you now…
Interest and 2 Skill Points: Chemistry Interest and 1 Skill Point: Pre-Poc Interest and 1 Skill Point (Choose one): Examination, Medicine, Recollection
Unforgettable Formula: All that time in the lab, you’ll never forget that one compound you learned and mastered. You learn a Compound Formula exactly like the Chemist’s feature (an additional formula if taking the Chemist class), and effectively have 1 extra compound slot that can only be used for the Compound Formula chosen for this trait.
[This can only be taken by a Pre-Poc Human]
Honest work, helping build the homes, offices, defences, and monuments of the world before. Sometimes tough, sometimes back-breaking, sometimes surprisingly effortless with modern convenience, construction work is a very wide field that even includes the other side of the coin; perhaps you managed the controlled detonations or disassembly of unwanted buildings.
Interest and 2 Skill Points: Architecture Interest and 1 Skill Point: Pre-Poc Interest and 1 Skill Point (Choose one): Demolitions, Examination, Force
Build It Strong: Years of experience in one of the few fields that has only increased in value since the apocalypse... Any settlement would pay well for that knowledge. When not travelling, you are able to live comfortably in any settlement in which you’re welcome.
[This can only be taken by a Pre-Poc Human]
The impending apocalypse was obvious to some. It’s debatable how much it caught the old World Powers off-guard, but it’s likely that the average civilian on the street didn’t really think it’d happen. You’re not the average civilian; you knew what would happen, and you prepared. Maybe you had a little bunker, some secure stash, or simply turned your home into a fortress. However you made yourself ready, you’re much better equipped than those average people.
Interest and 2 Skill Points: Scavenging Interest and 1 Skill Point: Pre-Poc Interest and 1 Skill Point (Choose one): Computing, Fieldcraft, Mechanics
Saw It Coming: You were right! When the apocalypse came, you had your own setup; ready and waiting to aid you in whatever life would follow. You start with an additional starting weapon (of any category), extra starting armour (of any category), two Cure Doses, and a Po-Io. Good luck, prepper.