Hi All,I graduated from university in 2006 and since then have been working for a distributor of a major spirits/alcohol beverage firm. I've been looking out for other options and recently a major tobacco company has shown interest in my profile. If all goes well, I might get an offer. In the next 3 years I intend to do my MBA and preferably move on to consulting with focus on FMCG. I wanted to know if my work experiences in such controversial industries seem negative (raise eyebrows) when I'm applying for an MBA. Your comments/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Don't worry, it won't be a problem. Consultants are all whores anyway.The experience you get will be great preparation for consulting. In the alcohol/tobacco industries, you'll spend your time telling social degenerates what they want to hear, "proving" smoking and drinking cuts cancer and makes them cool. In consulting, you'll spend your time telling managerial degenerates what they want to hear, "proving" that they're "best in class" and that choosing SAP over Oracle makes them cool.

I imagine you might be the centre of attention in quite a few b school course discussions, with the heat on more often than not. If you can handle it, go for it. If not, go for b schools with less emphasis on the case method. When you apply, present a clear story and rationale about your choices and future career aspirations. It might help if you avoided the stance taken in 'Thank you for smoking'.

Well, they are classified under luxury/FMCG as well. So should not be a worry. But better think of some good answers to tackle for CSR etc. Hope it helps!