Tobacco Brokers

I work at a car dealership right now. We have a client who is a tobacco broker. His family owns a farm in South Africa. Ive tried to set up times throughout the month to sit down and talk with him, To express sincere interest in what he does for a living. But i seem to be getting the run-around with him, maybe because the holiday's are coming up. I am looking to make a career change.

I talked to other people who say its impossible and you have to basically be born into that type of job. I say "BS" there are opportunities everywhere. And for someone like me who is willing to intern to learn. Shows the willingness and how i am wanting to go.

I tried posting this thread in the business section but for some reason its set on private. So please don't be to upset on where i posted it.

So the point of this thread is to see if any of you guys actually know or are friends with or maybe even are tobacco brokers. I want to sit down and talk with someone who actually does this for a living. I want to learn the steps that i will need to take to become a tobacco broker. I am willing to relocate, and also fly for a quick chat over lunch or dinner.

Help me out F-chatters, I am always happily surprised on how much info i get from this board.

All the Best
Jeff

I posted this thread in the southern california section of the site and realized i should of posted it here in the first place.

 

Why on earth?

Having been in the tobacco business, it's quite depressing and feels like it could cave in any minute. You always feel like you're being attacked by various governments and NGO's. The only viable tobacco career is overseas. I did it in North Carolina with RJR, then moved to Switzerland with the international division of the company. Even there, we could feel the wave of anti-tobacco legislation coming through the EU. The real market is eastern Europe, former USSR, and Asia. Time is not on the side of this industry.

 

A buddy of mine went to an interview at RJR when we were at Harvard.

10 Min into it he lit up.


He lit up a MARLBORO!!!!

He said he was out of that building and on his ass so fact you would have thought he was the president during a bomb scare!!!!

 

I used to provide consultants to work on-site at Philip Morris in Cabarrus County. Every time we had a meeting with them, they lit up and blew smoke in the interviewees face... just to see what reaction they'd get. Instead of cookies or a golf shirt, they'd give me a carton of cigarettes at Christmas... and I don't smoke.

 

There are a lot of better types of work in my opinion

 

I thought you had to be smart to go to Harvard...perhaps it has more to do with a lack of common sense.

 

When I was there you could tell by how dumb the student how long their family had been attending the school.

If they were reall dumb, they were the fifth or so to go!

 

Thanks for everyone who has responded so far. Means alot to me

All the Best
Jeff

 

Just seeing if anyone else knows anyone. Im still trying to get my foot in the door. anything would help at this point

All the Best

 

I just met (2 hours ago) with a group of doctors and nurses who are organising to go into elementary schools with a smoking prevention program.


I am having difficulty forming a sentence that lacks profanity.


You'll make more money with street drugs. However you want to spin it in your own mind, the morality is the same.

 

more people die every year over obesity than smoking. and only in america. americans need to walk more. go to europe. people walk everywhere. and they are healthy and smoke alot!

 

Do not get me started (especially after my alternator just blew)

Cancer is the number one cause of death in the United States. Lung cancer is the number one killer of both men and women. 90% of these are directly attributed to smoking. Heart disease is no longer #1, it is #2 because of improved therapy and declining smoking. And we aren't even including all the lung and heart damage from smoking that causes vast additional morbidity.

Paris is going non-smoking by 2008. Why do you think? I am honestly not meaning to be condescending, but you need to do a little research before you come to your conclusions. I assume you yourself smoke, in which case it would be in your own best interest to get your head out of the sand.

Smoking is addictive and terrible for your health. Oh, and it stinks too.

 

You may want to go ask on a more specific forum dealing with this such as:

www.clubstogie.com
www.stogiechat.com
www.cigarworld.com