Colonist Occupation

Colonist Occupation
A colonist can occupy any job, even if they don't have stars in a job. They never forget their experience, so switching occupations has no penalty. You will still earn XP in an alternative occupation if you practice it, even if it is not your current occupation. (A scholar splinting an arm, will still earn XP for Doctor)

Occupation
Click Change and it will bring up all careers. If you have any stars in a career it will show them here.

Next Level
As you perform tasks in your occupation you will earn experience. You can also earn experience from reading at a Bookshelf (Requires technology Writing). When you max out your experience bar, you can click "Promote" to gain a star. Sometimes you may want to hold off on this as the "Wish" (Expectations) to level up in an occupation can earn a lot of Life Satisfaction points!

This window will also show what you will be able to do next level. Be mindful that it is next level.

Specialization
You can select or unselect options here. This allows to specialize a colonist to specific tasks. Specialization doesn't affect experience earned or penalize in doing these other tasks if you need to do them later.

Combat
How skillful you are at fighting. The more stars you have, the better the weapon you can use. A zero star colonist can equip a wooden sword for a weapon. Fighting or training with a training dummy (Requires technology: Tailoring) will increase your XP. When you are ready for next level, click Promote.