When Mrs. Dominique Smith was in college and thinking about a career, she never thought it would turn out to be banking.

In college, Mrs. Smith, now the general manager, treasury at the Bermuda Commercial Bank, was a a liberal arts student in Boston and France.

She mastered two languages, French and German, and lived in Austria after college before returning to the US to work for a company that was involved in education and training services in the oil and gas industries.

She sought her first job in banking about a decade ago, after being unable to find a position in Bermuda in an area she had an interest in, human resources and personnel.

She was at the Bank of Butterfield for three years before spending time at home with her young son. Years later, she returned to banking at the Bermuda Commercial Bank.

Responsible for 20 staff, she deals with treasury functions, the corporate services and private services for high net worth clients. That entails the operations related to treasury, the customer relationships and the managing of the bank's book, including cash management, foreign exchange, assets and liabilities management.

It is a broad-based responsibility in a relatively small organisation. She spends about half her time with clients, on the telephone or in person. The other half of the time she spends in administration including overseeing internal management procedures.

"The reason I like this job is because I'm involved in all areas, instead of one part of the bank, which is probably what would happen in a larger operation. Here, you get to be involved in many facets of banking and it gives you opportunities for growth.

"Every day is different and that makes the job interesting. I do like the management part of it, dealing with staff in terms of assisting them and motivating them.'' She assumed the position in April, but admits a banker is not what she had ever thought she would turn out to be.

Today, the mother of two sons -- one in college, aged 18, and another, aged 11, admits it is only through the support of her husband (Cooper & Lines controller Mr. Christopher Smith), that she has been able to absorb the rigours of her banking responsibilities.

A few years ago, she decided to finish a university degree, leaving Bermuda to go back to the US. Her husband was in charge of the boys, while she was away.

"I decided to finish my Business Administration degree after I had my sons. I would never have been able to do that without the support of my husband.

"Boston College accepted the transfer of credits I had done through the Bermuda College and the University of Maryland (at NAS). In addition, they had their own requirements. You had to have a minimum number of credits from Boston University.

"So in the summer, I went over and finished up the degree, while my husband was basically home with the children. Later, I also studied for, and obtained, my Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

"If I didn't have a supportive husband and good kids, it would never have been possible.

"So when you ask me where do I want to be in five or ten years, I can't even think about that. I'm living my future right now. It is all so new to me.

"I've done a lot of traveling in the last two years, but because of the position I've taken on, particularly in the corporate treasury area of the bank, there is much more marketing involved than it used to be.

"Also the focus of the bank has changed since I joined five years ago. Our whole marketing focus has changed. We are much more pro-active in terms of going out and marketing the bank and raising the profile of the bank.

"It has led to more traveling and a higher profile for me. These are part of a whole new set of duties I've taken on in the last year. It is still new for me in that way and of course very interesting.'' One issue which has never arisen at the Commercial Bank is sexual discrimination or the so-called "glass ceiling''.

Her boss, managing director Ms Audette Exel, is a woman and she says: "The glass ceiling issue has never been my experience. Working here, I've never had a problem with that. It's never been an issue that has come up.

"My progression to this position has been at different levels and I've always had the opportunity to prove what I could do. I've never felt that I've gotten to a point where I couldn't go any further.

"No, I've never experienced it, but there may be others at other companies who may have. The key element for me is that I feel you have to prove what you can do.'' BERMUDA Commercial Bank's Mrs. Dominique Smith