I agree wanting casual dress shouldn’t be the focus of your career, but I think it’s easy for those of us who can afford to set up our kids with high-quality business clothing to ignore the fact that the cost and upkeep of business clothing can be a burden to a 21 yo who may already be in debt from college, and that a business casual wardrobe is a lot easier to source at Target or Walmart than a business-business wardrobe is.
@yazylovescheese just want to offer the perspective of someone who works in TV in Los Angeles. I love it. I work in marketing, on the “boring” side–TV distribution, and not for “sexy” channels–and it’s been really ideal for me. You’ll have to relax a bit on dress code: at the end of the day, anything in the entertainment industry will be at least somewhat corporate (it’s a business, and an old one), though the rules vary depending on department/company. Since distribution is less “sexy,” and I’m not in the main, corporate building, it’s pretty relaxed. I can wear sandals and whatever comfy cotton thing from Old Navy that I like–perfect for me; my previous job at a young “fun” company required heels, tights, no straps, no shorts,etc. I don’t think blue hair would fly here, though–the people in charge are older, mostly white men and they look at you funny on a good day, with normal-hued hair. It might be OK if you work on the production side of things (but production is more competitive, longer hours, and you’re paid less).
Anyway! It’s a large, dynamic business (under the umbrella of “entertainment”). I’m in TV (which has a LOT of arms/wings and options with the expansion of formats and boom in content), but there’s also film, music, digital (apps, games, etc.), gaming, etc.–lots of options and tons of different departments within each business where you could apply a number of skills and find a variety of environments. I have friends who do film & TV financing and are really happy. Another friend is an entertainment lawyer and does contracts/clearances for TV/film, including all the original programming for one of the major streaming services. You can major in a lot of different things, and as long as you place yourself in the right orbit and seek out opportunities, you can break in (ie: move to LA after graduation). However, generally I recommend learning picking up marketing, writing and general business skills–they’re applicable across a lot of departments/areas. Finance skills are a great idea if you’re good at it/interested–there are always finance positions available somewhere. And I’d also highly recommend getting to conversation/fluency levels with a foreign language and/or doing some IR or economics classes b/c one of the MAJOR growth areas for entertainment but particularly film/TV right now is international markets. Being familiar with the Chinese market (and/or Mandarin!), or even Europe can be a boon. That’s where the jobs/boom will be in the next decade for most major media conglomerates (I work in international XD).
The thing that irritates me about this is that it assumes that everyone is the same and values the same thing. @NeoDymium, maybe you don’t value dressing casually and maybe to you, this is a “micro-issue.” That’s absolutely fine! But denigrating other people who don’t agree with you and who do think it’s important to dress casually is not cool. And then things like
are just patently untrue. I work at Microsoft, which is most certainly not a startup. I work in a skilled white-collar position that requires a PhD. And I wear a T-shirt and jeans to work (or, when I’m feeling really fancy, a button-down and jeans). It does not ‘degrade my work place,’ nor does it indicate anything about the skill of my coworkers or product teams. I live in Seattle, a very casual city, where most people wear casual clothes to work. The economy is booming and people are productive. I’m glad my employer doesn’t think that flannel and denim somehow diminishes my ability to think on a regular basis. (And yes, I have excellent benefits, pay, and career development as well. And occasionally we have free movies and beer. They are not “fake perks.” They are very real perks that make people feel pretty loyal to the company and feel valued and important, and it’s one of the reasons our average tenure is way longer than our competitors. Benefits and perks both go a long way towards recruiting talent in my industry.)
To OP @yazylovescheese - there is a business of everything, of course. I work in video games, which is part of the entertainment industry that is booming. We have marketers and management here as well. People have to message out that our games are awesome and fun to play. And one of my closest co-workers has red and purple hair, and another coworker who just got promoted has red streaks. I see red and blue and purple hair walking around all day, lol. (Tech in general sounds like a great environment for your cultural preferences, and all tech companies have marketing and accounting/finance folks. There’s also technical writing and technical communication, which may appeal to you.)
I do agree that it’s good to be a little bit flexible on your desires early on in your career. It’s not bad to have them, of course - lots of people like more relaxed environments to work in, as it does reflect culture. But those places tend to be desirable, so lots of people work their way into them after a couple of years holding a similar role in a different company.
Some people do get burned out on traveling in their late 20s/early 30s, but I know people who travel frequently for work and still love it.
I haven’t worked in an “office” setting since 1986. I worked in schools for a number of years.
One of my kids is now working for a good sized consulting firm. His hair was in a “growing it out” phase when he interviewed for the job almost two years ago, almost a full year before he graduated and started working. He was also growing a beard. Frankly I was suprised that he was offered a job, because I thought that he looked pretty scruffy, though well dressed.
A year later, when he started work, his hair had grown out even longer, and he was still sporting a beard. I thought he looked homeless, and that someone would have a private conversation with him about cleaning up his appearance during the first few weeks of the job. Nope. Not a word.
He was aiming for a man bun, which he finally was able to accomplish a few weeks after starting work, still with a short beard. he has sported that look for a year now as a newbie in hospital consulting. He owns a few suits, which I doubt he wears much. He wears business casual. He travels quite a bit.
He looks a lot like Jon Snow (Game of Thrones), so maybe that helps. (I’m kidding about thinking that helps.)
What really helps, however, is that he is very, very smart, works hard, and has excellent people skills. He graduated college with a nearly perfect GPA, and spent three summers working on projects internationally. He was involved in some interesting extracurriculars in college. He majored in Biology, and minored in Chemistry, music and business. His summer projects combined the science and business.
So my advice is not to worry right now about clothes and hair. Right now nobody cares. Maybe somebody will care four years from now, but maybe they won’t.
Be concerned, right now, with the things that matter going forward. Work hard to get the best grades possible. Get involved in some clubs or projects that interest you. Life moves in weird dirrections, and you can’t possibly predict everything. Sometimes you can’t predict anything.
I suspect the number of industries in which business-formal clothing is the norm is going to continue to plummet like a stone. What’s really left, anyway? Courtrooms? Certain bankers? This ship has just been sailing for such a long time.