What Does Castro's Resignation Mean for Your Career?

Nothing, you say?

Think again.

Political events do affect the course of your career.

Picture a huge funnel, the top of which is the whole wide world and all the events that happen within it--be they military coups, or hunger strikes, the Olympics, Britney Spears' latest crises, hurricanes, or civil war. At the bottom of the funnel is you--your singular life, your individual career.

When things happen up there--at the top of the funnel--they eventually trickle all the way down to you (okay, maybe not so much the Britney Spears crises) and impact the way you live your life. Not true, you say? Well, what about conflict in the Middle East, which lead to higher gas prices, which made it twice as expensive to fill your tank?

Same holds true for other changes to our social, political and economic climate. So let's brainstorm for a minute the ways in which the end of the Castro era might affect your career. What if our trade embargo on Cuba comes to an end, opening up a new market for US goods? What if American citizens are eventually allowed to travel freely to Cuba? What if the cap on the number of Cubans allowed to seek exile in the US is lifted? Any one of these events might have ramifications for the jobs available the next time you're looking, or for marketplace trends that could directly affect your career path.

Can you think of a world event that has specifically influenced your own career path?

Check out the results of our political survey of college students.

Photo by ilkerender.