Career journey: Alpesh Makwana

What were some of the factors that led you to pursue your career at Deloitte?

I joined Deloitte in 2013. Before moving into the organization, I had heard a lot about Deloitte's leadership, the organization's culture of appreciating their professionals for all the challenging work they put their effort into, and the various growth opportunities they get as a result. Back then, I also heard about Deloitte’s focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with the various initiatives enabling us to focus on well-being and flexible ways of working. These factors and hearing from people working at the organization led me to believe that it would be the right choice for me.

In your own words, how would you describe Deloitte's distinctive culture?

Deloitte provides a lot of autonomy to its leaders and its professionals in managing the minutest of aspects such as daily to-dos to bigger-picture elements such as creating your personalized roadmap for your annual goals. This empowers professionals to ensure that their well-being needs are woven into the journey along with their project deliverables. Before the pandemic, there was a time during my career with Deloitte when I needed flexibility in my life to take care of some personal matters. A huge part of the support that I needed during this time came from leaders, mentors, and team members. This goes to say that Deloitte takes care of all its practitioners no matter the situation and need. All these options foster a culture of well-rounded well-being where everyone can avail of the advantages of ensuring that their project deliverables are taken care of, along with their well-being needs.

Tell us about your career path at Deloitte (How long have you worked for Deloitte, how has your career evolved?)

I joined Deloitte in 2013. I started working as a project manager and a technical solution architect. After that, I moved into the performance management, testing, and engineering team. While working with performance testing and performance engineering, I started exploring the Blockchain Internet of Things.

I was also responsible for starting Low Code No Code (LCNC) space for technical implementations in our emerging industry solutions team—this area/offering emerged from the need to address the long turn-around time in custom software solutions/platforms. We assist Deloitte clients in developing scalable, modular, and reliable platforms with the help of LCNC.

How has Deloitte supported you in your career journey?

The support I received throughout my time with the organization has been crucial in contributing to my growth and an evolving experience across teams. Let me cite two examples here. Within 18 months of working with Deloitte, owing to a personal emergency, I had to take a few days off because a family member was hospitalized. During this time, I needed to be present with my family. What encouraged me to feel empowered was knowing that I had the flexibility and the backing of my leaders and my team.

A few years later in my career journey, I explored Blockchain while simultaneously working on assigned projects and creating a few proofs of concept. I presented these to the leaders, and they saw the diligence I exerted through the course of building solutions via new technology. They saw merit in the initial exploration, and encouraged me to deep dive into the Blockchain space to explore building a full capability around it. I’m proud to share that we have now modeled/established several capabilities around Blockchain and this has helped us deliver multiple solutions. Today, I am an active member of the Blockchain community in Deloitte, along with enthusiasts from across our organization—from time to time, we gather to meet regularly and discuss various new and upcoming features on Blockchain.

What's one piece of advice you would give the 18-year-old version of yourself?

Trust your leaders, share your aspirations and discuss how you want your career to progress. Only conferring and sharing your ideas and visions won't do. Showcase an example and effectively, follow up in action, to demonstrate how passionate you are about pursuing a specific area of specialization. If you have an idea that you think holds merit and is innovative/interesting, only you can make it a reality. It might require you to work harder, but then, isn't life about working hard and making your dreams a reality? If you want to achieve something worthwhile, ensure that you dedicatedly work toward it.

How do you prioritize your well-being outside of work?

Over the weekends, I make sure that I participate in some physical activities, especially bicycle riding. On weekdays, I try to block my calendar and ensure that I take care of my well-being by attending sessions that the Deloitte well-being team hosts, like chair yoga sessions, or by connecting with teams to catch up on things not pertaining to work. I am thankful to Deloitte for introducing the well-being subsidy; it has empowered me to support and enhance my well-being. And my true zen moments happen when I’m spending time with my family.

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone interested in joining Deloitte?

Deloitte opens a world of opportunities, if you know how to seize them.

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