Noob:
Lets use the Navy Career (because it is first in the document).
You roll up your character: 777777 (Call him Norm) [All Stat DMs are 0]
Norm gets 3 Background Skills (3+ his EDU DM of 0)
You select his homeworld as a High Population, Poor, Average Stellar world, so your background skills are:
Streetwise-0, Animal(Training)-0, Computer-0 [You could have picked Flyer(Grav)-0 instead of Computer if you wanted]
Norm tries to join the Navy:
Enlistment is INT 6+
Norm has no Intelligence bonus, so it is a straight 6+ on 2d6 [You roll an 8 and Norm is in the Navy {queue the Village People}
Term 1:
You decide that Norm will be Line/Crew, so his Basic Training Skills are:
Pilot(Starship)-0, VaccSuit-0, Zero-G-0, Gunnery(laser)-0, Mechanic-0, Gun(pistol)-0
Rolling for Survival:
Int 6+ (you roll a 9 and survive with no problem)
Rolling for Advancement:
Edu 6+ (no Edu bonus either, but you roll a 7, so Norm is an Ensign)
Rolling for Event:
You roll an 8: Diplomatic Mission and you select Steward-1
Rolling for your skills:
You get 1 skill for the term and 1 for Promotion (in addition to that Steward skill you picked up).
You can roll on any of the following tables:
Personal Development, Service Skills or Specialist Crew
Norm doesn't have the EDU to roll on the Advanced Education Table.
You decide to roll once on the Personal Development Table and once on the Specialist Table:
Personal Development: Roll a 4 (+1 Intelligence)
Specialist Table: Roll a 2 (Mechanic, so you now have Mechanic-1)
END OF TERM SUMMARY:
UPP: 777877 Rank Ensign Age: 22
Skills:
Mechanic-1, Steward-1, Pilot(Starship)-0, VaccSuit-0, Zero-G-0, Gunnery(laser)-0, Gun(pistol)-0, Streetwise-0, Animal(Training)-0, Computer-0
You decide to stay in the Navy for a second Term:
Survival: Int 6+ (you still don't get a DM, but you are close)
You roll a 4 and now must roll on the mishap table:
Mishap Table: Battle, you decide to roll against your Mechanic skill (since it is highest of those listed) You roll a 6 (+1 for skill) for a 7 and you FAIL, so the ship suffers severe damage and you are blamed. You are Court-Marshalled and Discharged from the Navy.
Since you failed your Survival check, you don't get to roll for Advancement or for an Event.
So, end of Second Term and end of this Career, so you roll on the Benefits Table.
Norm gets 1 roll for his first term, no roll for his second disasterous term and 1 roll for being Rank 1.
You decide to roll once on the Cash Table and once on the Benefits Tables:
Cash: Roll a 5 and receive 20,000 Cr
Benefits: Roll a 4 and receive a Weapon.
Since Norm has a Gun(pistol)-0, you chose an Autopistol.
Norm can now try another career (with a qualification DM of -1) or start play.
Assuming you want to start play:
Norm
UPP: 777877 Rank: Ensign Age: 26
Skills:
Mechanic-1, Steward-1, Pilot(Starship)-0, VaccSuit-0, Zero-G-0, Gunnery(laser)-0, Gun(pistol)-0, Streetwise-0, Animal(Training)-0, Computer-0
Possessions: 20,000 Cr
Autopistol
Norm could now get a job as a starship Steward, serving passengers, or possibly as a starship engineer.
Noob: Does that help?