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There are quite a few posts about this already in this part of the forum but I will simply state my opinion.
You need to be trained in a Profession to be able to make a day job roll. Later on certain vanities (you will want to read the Pathfinder Society books to find out exactly what these are) let you use other skills in place of the Profession skill.
Keep in mind that the Profession skill is pretty much endless in terms of scope ie what sort of profession. My Cleric is a Tennis Player in his downtime, My Gunslinger a Merchant (who hopes to own a Shop of his own soon).
I treat Day job rolls much the same as a vanity. Its a cheap bonus that dont affect me too much if I do not roll well. (I make the joke that if I make 5 gold on my day job roll it nearly pays for a paper alchemical cartridge).
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@Matthew Pittard: You are only partially correct.
Day Job rolls can be done on Profession, Craft or Perform skills, not just Profession.
@TimrehIX: IMO, Day Job rolls are fairly unimportant. Yes, at low levels, a little extra pocket change can be helpful, but, for most PCs, it is a waste of resources.
I am going to do an analysis of Day Jobs on a class basis:
Alchemist: Nice perk, since you are almost always going to be taking ranks in Craft (Alchemy).
Bards: Nice perk, since Bards require having at least one trained Perform skill to really use some of their class abilities.
Gunslinger: nice but limited perk, since you never need more than 1 rank in Craft (Alchemy) in order to buy the discounted ammo materials.
Barbarian, Cavalier, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Inquisitor, Magus, Monk, Ninja, Oracle, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Samurai, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch, Wizard: Unless you have an RP reason, and the skill point(s) to spare, it isn't worth it.
Now, adding in the vanities from the Pathfinder Society Field Guide, which lets you turn other skills into Day Job skills, it is probably not a bad investment in a regular class skill.
There are vanities that turn many skills that you would want to train anyhow into Day Job skills, or add a bonus to regular Day Job skills.
Some of the skills that vanities can turn into Day Job skills are:
Bluff
Diplomacy
Handle Animal
Heal
Intimidate
Sleight of Hand
Survival
That turns skills you would probably already be training, depending on class, into Day Jobs for a small price in PPs.
Someone did the math and found that the expected gold piece value of 12 levels of day job rolls is less than what you would gain if you play up once. I'd personally worry more about putting ranks into skills that would help me complete my faction missions, since prestige seems to be worth more than most day jobs. That being said, a rank or two in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill can't hurt.
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My rogue's profession:sailor(+4) (and his boat) are fronts for the money he makes from his +22 sleight of hand day job he gets from being a member of the thieves guild :)
But overall I don't consider it worth it for profession/craft unless you are a class that gets a benefit from it (eg alchemist) but if you spend the PP on getting one of your normally maxed skills as a day job i think it is worth it.
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Unless you have character reasons to have a particular craft/profession/perform skill, or to purchase a vanity for a different skill, it's a bad investment. Once you're out of the 1-2 tier, the gold from the session and general costs of items you want are significantly higher than the day job roll.
Regarding the vanities, in most cases they're not worth the PP. The easy litmus is this: if you instead spent the PP on a 750gp item, what would be the relative payoff? The answer, unfortunately, almost always is in favor of the 750gp item.
Having a single point in the craft/prof/perform trio does, at the very least, allow for a minimal amount of pocket change, so that's certainly an option. If you're a fighter, paladin, or other generally low-INT class with 2 skills per level, it's very easy to justify skipping this investment.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Need one? No. I recommed one for the sake of adding colour to your character, even if it's just one rank.
For my gang...
Reynard: Craft (alchemy) I moddeled him after Harry Dresden, and since I can't take craft potion, craft Alchemy seemed natural.
Talyn: Craft (painting) I like him having an eye for art, and being a sketch artist can't hurt faction or plot wise. "Tell me what he looked like." (Craft check) "Like this?"
Dexios: Profession (Barrister) There's just something satisfying about playing the laywer from hell.
Mayim: Well she's a bard, so I don't have a 'job' Perform works nicely.
Venture-Lieutenant, West Virginia—Charleston
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One bit that I have been playing with lately is the celebrity status which can be attained through Perform. If you read over Perform, there are rules for how many fans you get on a particular roll - I would like to make one of my characters a minor celebrity in Absalom for his terrible, terrible stand-up comedy. No mechanical bonus, of course, it's just RP fluff.
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It is much better when you go slow progression as you get more rolls.And as soon as you die once, it was all for naught. 2x the chances of dying, raise dead still costs 5k+ or 16 pp.
Although it would require a player to declare whether they are slow tracking or not at the beginning of the scenario (if they just obtained a new level and have the choice, of course) so that they can't be like "oh, my character died, I think I'll slow track for a little while so it won't cost as much."
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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None of my characters have ever used the day job rules or made a day job roll, and I don't feel at all behind. In a rush of end-of-game paperwork, it's an extra bit of hassle that isn't worth the time to perform, IMO.
At the beginning of the session, I ask each player to introduce his or her character. While they're doing that, I fill in some information on their Chronicle. One of the questions I ask is, "Do you have a Day Job?" I have them roll then and there, although the gold isn't available until the end of the session.
It begins the session with a little success, and it oft-times gives me a hook to get them their faction mission: "While you're working as a scribe at the temple, a nondescript man comes up and asks if you can print a copy of a text. He unties a ribbon around a piece of vellum and shows you this."
Sometimes, when I ask, a player will say, "No, my 'day job' is practicing my skills," I'll ask if they know about vanities that allow them to earn gold for their other skills. I've had players look at a vanity, realize it suits their PC, immediately buy membership in a Hunting Lodge or a partnership in a trade caravan, and use that for a Day Job roll.
I agree that they're not worth much -- playing up a subtier once or twice will earn a PC much more than that -- but they help connect a character to the campaign setting, and that's a good thing.
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i still like it for flavor. even if i don't have ranks i plan to put a point one day into some sort of profession for all my characters.
for instance my rogue above has 1 rank in profession:sailor to be a front for the sleight of hand money he makes from being in the thieves guild. this allows him to afford to use his ship to attack chelaxian slave ships to free the slaves on them. (he is andoran, obviously)
my cleric of zon-kuthon has 1 rank in profession:torturer
i have a sylvan sorcerer with 5 ranks in craft:desserts
an elven ancient lorekeeper with profession:diplomat
a half orc rogue(skulking slayer/bandit) who has profession:bandit
a knowledge skill bard/wizard with profession:professor
all just nice for background flavor for the character
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Profession skill is pretty cool. I have had GMs allow me to substitute my dayjob rolls in for other skills on several occasions, if it was reasonable.
Folnor Profession: Scribe was allowed to use it once to make a forgery.
Salvanar Profession: Soldier allowed to use it to determine defenses of a location which would be a Kn: Engineering check.
Ausk Profession: Sailor and that's useful every time he sails on his ship.
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I've got little love for adding flavour via a day job, but to add to Kinevon's analysis, almost every character has a high int (craft), wis (profession) or cha (perform) score, and for the low, low price of a single rank, you're doing yourself little harm.
The extra few gp - even 25gp over the long haul - could get you over the line to spend something you might not otherwise be able to afford without having to sell something else. (ie. 19995gp instead of 20000+ for that tasty ring of invisibility! think of the gold!)