DEBORAH Rutherford-Williams, 49, has long had her sights set on becoming an executive secretary with a large firm.

“Back in my days in the 70s and 80s, being a secretary was a high-profile job. People either wanted to be an air hostess or a secretary; those were the jobs to have,” she said. “I wanted to be near the bigger heads; I wanted to be their secretary.”

Through hard work and tenacity, she’s made it happen at the telecoms giant Digicel. In 10 years, Williams has made the climb from being an office attendant to a corporate receptionist — ever mindful that, as the saying goes, excellence is in the details.

After completing her secondary education at Papine High, Williams, who was born and raised in August Town, Kingston, landed a job as a clerk at the August Town Quarry where it was her responsibility to stock material, write the bills, balance the books and sometimes act as a receptionist.

When Digicel started its operations in Jamaica, Williams put in an application. She was successful and started as an office attendant, serving coffee and tea to staff on the fifth floor of the company’s group office in New Kingston.

When corporate meetings were held, it was Williams who organised the boardroom’s layout before meetings and subsequently looked after both staff and visitors. Although not in her job description, she often assisted the facilities manager and the receptionist once her own duties were completed.

Her dedication and commitment did not go unnoticed and earned her a promotion to supervisor after just two years. The new position saw her working not only on the fifth floor, but on all seven floors of the company’s group office. Her responsibilities included supervising the team of office attendants while ensuring that the floors were well stocked.

The next year ushered in another promotion for Williams, this time to mail room supervisor. In that capacity, she took charge of the stationery and postage. All Digicel’s couriers and bearers and those from other companies now reported to Williams. Although her hours were from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, she often arrived as early as 6:30 am to see that the mail was properly sorted and items for pick-up were packaged and ready to go.

Her efforts were rewarded. In 2004, she was given yet another promotion, this time to corporate receptionist — a position she’s occupied for seven years now. Williams’ responsibilities today include manning the switchboard while also meeting and greeting visitors. At the same time, all incoming calls for the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer and the chief operations officer have to go through her first — a dream come true for Williams.

According to the married mother of four, her role is two-fold as she doubles as receptionist and Digicel’s internal Jamaican ‘ambassador’.

“When visitors come, I offer them the newspaper, tea, water, and especially if a client is not from here, I make sure I offer them our Blue Mountain Coffee,” she said.

Donovan Betancourt, head of facilities management and technical operations at Digicel, had nothing but high praise for Williams, who he said has consistently gone beyond the call of duty.

“Making and serving refreshments is not (actually) a part of her job, but she will not hesitate (to do so) for her guests to make them comfortable,” he said.

His sentiment was echoed by Ivan Sierra, head of carrier services.

“(She) is very helpful and goes above and beyond in trying to make things work for everyone… (She) does her best to accommodate you even at short notice”.

Williams, in reflecting on her progress over the years, said “I feel good. I am proud of myself and I love my job.”

“I’m a people person. If someone comes in miserable or disgruntled, I will make them laugh… they will leave with a smile,” she added.

Along the way, Williams has received the benefit of training through her company.

“Digicel has a lot of on-the-job training that I have benefited from, for example, internal development training (and) customer care training. I was (also) sent on a basic computer training course and learnt a lot about computers by working alongside others in the company that knew about computers,” she said.

She advises others to relentlessly pursue their own career goals.

“It doesn’t matter what background you are from; if you have a goal in mind, focus on whatever you do. Be fair and treat people well. Remember, you are a promise,” she said.