How I became a Kingly salesman

I AM a graduate and have done all sorts of jobs since leaving university in 1991. I wanted to work in Hongkong and I wanted a job in broking. Then I saw an advertisement in the Evening Standard in London: ''Hongkong Futures Brokers needed as soon as possible''. I went for an interview and was offered a job almost immediately. They hardly looked at my CV. One guy I know was offered a job over the telephone, he hadn't even sent them a CV. When they offered me a job without a second interview I was quite wary, even suspicious.

They offered us a fairly limited package - $4,000 a month basic salary, no air fare, accommodation - but they were not at all specific about what that was. They said it was a fairly open proposition. They were quoting GBP20,000 (HK$228,000) a month.

They were recruiting from London, I think, because they were looking to improve the image of their company. I feel hard done by because I feel I have been exploited. I am a completely straight, honest Englishman who, to a certain extent, has been led up the garden path to improve the image of a company which has a very bad image in Hongkong.

I think they were preying on the climate of recession in Britain. Hongkong has an image as somewhere where you can make a lot of money.

The first clue that all was not right was when we arrived. The promised accommodation was not ready so they put us in a hotel which, subsequently it turned out, we had to pay for, at $500 for two nights and we were sharing rooms.

When we did get to the flat, we realised it was eight to a bedroom. There were two flats, two rooms in each flat with about 12 people in each. They had not been at all specific in London about what we had to pay or whether we would have to pay. They weretaking it out of our salary: $2,500 a month. Considering there were so many people they were actually making a profit on us.