Actually.... Yea. In this case that's exactly what's happening. It's like if you got a job at McDonald's working minimum wage when you were 16 but then you never moved on.
When customizing their character, they should have chosen a different profession than "garbage picker" on the selection screen. To be honest, I really don't know how they found it - I didn't see garbage picker on the menu at all, and I don't even know any garbage pickers.