We’re here for you
We’re on a mission to make informative, lifelong careers advice accessible to all. Everyone in the workplace, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age or career choice, deserves the chance to reach their potential.
Whether you are just starting out in the working world, are returning to work after a career break or pivoting into something new, Eluceo, meaning ‘to shine’, will bring out your best professional self.
As a social enterprise operating in accordance with our Memorandum and articles of association, and a member of Social Enterprise UK, the profits we generate are used to support charities that improve the outcomes of people in or entering the workplace.
Eluceo is also committed to the UN call for action and support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
Why Eluceo?
My name is Terri Tuson, and I founded Eluceo in 2012 out of sheer frustration in the lack of support in career development. There was both nowhere to go and no-one to speak to. At the same time, everyone I knew was in the same boat.
I saw so very many of my talented friends going in the wrong career direction, regretting their first career moves, having no idea where to get help and no idea what else they could be doing.
At the same time I saw older people coming up to retirement and regretting they had spent so long on the wrong career path.
For the past eight years, under the Eluceo banner, I’ve been running STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths) projects in secondary schools, bringing in employers to help students better understand what science careers are available to them.
As I saw such wonderful potential, and asked myself, “Are they going down the wrong track too?’ It reinforced my belief that a new, innovative and integrated solution was needed to support career development and lifelong learning, at every stage of the career lifecycle, and the dream of iShine® was born.
I couldn’t have done it by myself
My parents are also involved in the Eluceo and iShine project! My mum, Mei, has experienced the career change life herself, starting out as a nurse, retraining to become an engineer, then focusing on business analysis and moving back into engineering in later life. Her experience of job seeking, career changing and being a working parent has helped her tremendously to appreciate the difficulties and emotion people go through when considering a career change or returning to work after a career break. She uses her expertise in business analysis and development and project management to make sure Eluceo runs smoothly.&
When Eluceo was just a website, I ran it more independently, however as iShine progressed and I needed more technical expertise, I roped in my dad, Peter, to develop the infrastructure and software for the app. He's also an engineer by profession, and has a keen interest in programming languages. Having recently retired, I'm hoping he's enjoying his new-found (full-time!) hobby of working for his daughter.
Why now?
A number a factors in the 21st Century have made it imperative to offer everyone lifelong careers advice and guidance, and the chance to re-skill or up-skill.
Firstly Artificial Intelligence and robotics are changing the landscape of jobs, with 65% of today’s school children preparing to do work that hasn’t been invented yet and 40% of current roles set to be lost to automation by 2050. Furthermore, a global society means we have to compete not only with our local environment, but with the rest of the world in productivity, innovation and sales.
Moreover, technology has an important part to play in ending poverty, improving health and education, reducing inequality, tackling climate change and propelling the growth of the economy. Eluceo will be bringing you the latest information on some of the new engineering development and technology happening in various industries.
Secondly, one in nine workers are currently in insecure employment and there has been a general trend towards contract jobs, freelancing, portfolio careers and zero hours contracts. If you are in insecure employment, how can you pivot and take advantage of changes in your environment as quickly as possible?
Thirdly, unlike the baby boomer generation, a career is not for life. The Financial Times suggests that we plan for five careers, and with that people need to know their strengths - knowing what their strengths are, how and where to improve them and what other strengths are needed.
In the last year, COVID has accelerated these factors, making it even more pressing that the support that individuals deserve and need is available to them.
Lastly, Millennials, Gen Xers and Gen Yers are more concerned, as they have every right to, be with having a career that fits around their values, whether that's working for a company that's ethical and sustainabe, being able to maintain a healthy work-life balance or being in a role that sees them challenged in the workplace.
