Dhruti Shah 

Dhruti Shah

Move on Up

Dhruti had just left her job as acting news editor at the Harrow Observer and was due to start an unpaid internship at Insight News Television, an independent documentary company, when she decided to attend Move On Up in News.

At the conference, speakers highlighted the BBC's new Journalism Training Scheme which prompted Dhruti to find out more about it from BBC representatives.

During Move On Up's networking sessions Dhruti met with Barnie Choudhury, BBC News Correspondent; Pete Clifton, Head of BBC News Interactive; Rod McKenzie, BBC Radio One's Newsbeat Editor, and Parminder Bahra, Executive Editor of Times Online.

During her conversation with Pete Clifton she talked about her respect for BBC News Online and her passion for online journalism. Afterwards, Pete put her in touch with the Editor of BBC News Online who invited her to an interview. In the same week she was interviewed for the Journalism Training Scheme and was offered both jobs. She accepted both and Dhruti freelanced for BBC News Online until the training scheme started.

Dhruti is now two months into the scheme and says that Move On Up in News has completely changed her life. For the last two months she has worked as a Trainee Reporter on Newsbeat, getting one-to-one training from Rod McKenzie and even interviewing Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey at the premiere of their latest film, Fool's Gold. She will move on to her next placement at 1xtra at the end of April.

Dhruti is still in touch with the mentors that she met at Move On Up. Barnie Choudhury gave her a tour of BBC Television Centre in her first week, introducing her to well-known BBC personality, John Sissons and later testing her screenwriting skills during a shadowing shift. She continues to have regular contact with Pete Clifton who keeps up-to-date with her progress.

Before Move On Up in News Dhruti did not know anyone working in journalism and although she was progressing in her career, her lack of contacts was holding her back. Move On Up gave her the contacts she needed to break-down the barriers and gave her the opportunities she needed to move forward in her career.