Becoming a Funeral Director

Becoming a Funeral Director - The following article outlines the job duties, training involved, salary expectations and future prospects of taking on a career as a Funeral Director.

Preview:

Funeral directors discuss the funeral arrangements with the family of the deceased, plan and direct the funeral service, and supervise and coordinate the activities of all those involved with transporting the body and preparing it for burial or cremation. Embalmers use chemical solutions to disinfect, preserve, and restore the body. They also use a range of cosmetic products on the body to simulate a lifelike appearance.

The Job:

Funeral directors are responsible for all the details surrounding cremation or burial procedures. They prepare estimates of the cost, advise on legal procedures to register the death, and help the family choose the coffin and type of funeral service. They sort out, transport, arrange obituary notices, and fix the times and dates with cemetery or crematorium staff, and with any religious representative required by the family.

Considerable technical expertise is needed to prepare the body for the funeral. This may include embalming, washing, dressing, shaving and applying makeup if required. Pads are inserted under the eye lids and the mouth is sutured to stop the jaw opening.

Embalming, to disinfect and preserve the body, is usually carried out by an embalmer, but it may be done by the funeral director in a small firm. The body is washed with germicidal soap and with sterilizing fluid, wax, and other materials to restore as normal an appearance as possible. The prepared body is then placed in the coffin ready for viewing.

On the day of the funeral, the funeral director is responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

Funeral directors usually work an eight-hour day but because their services may be needed at any hour of the day or night, these hours may have to be worked as shifts and they may be on-call.

The premises of a funeral director include comfortable reception rooms, offices, store rooms, and an embalming area. Most of their work is inside but considerable traveling is involved and funerals take place in all weathers.

Embalmers work in a clinically clean environment with the temperature slightly lower than normal room temperature. Most embalmers work in funeral homes, but some also work in hospitals and medical schools preparing bodies for autopsies and dissection classes, and assisting hospital pathologists during autopsies.

Training Involved:

Most countries have special requirements for funeral directors and license only qualified practitioners.

Training methods vary in some countries, for example, it is a standard requirement that funeral service practitioners should complete a course in mortuary science, which may last from nine months to three years, plus an apprenticeship. It may also be necessary to pass an examination in order to obtain the license. A typical two-year course at a school of mortuary science may cover anatomy embalming practices, funeral customs, psychology accounting, and public health laws. Some colleges and universities in these countries provide four-year training programs.

In other countries, training is mainly on the job. New entrants usually start with routine jobs, such as driving, cleaning the embalming room, and finishing coffins. This is combined with part-time study for professional qualifications. Promotion may come with experience. General part- time mortuary courses usually last a year. There are specialist courses in embalming and some of these may be full-time.

Useful Qualifications to Have:

Useful subjects include: English, chemistry, human biology, and religious studies.

Salary Expectations:

The base salary range of a Funeral Director ranges from $56,327 to $75,642 annually, while the median salary for most Funeral Directors is $65,524 annually. (US Base Pay)

Future Prospects:

The demand for funeral directors and embalmers is expected to be strong and prospects for employment appear secure. In the United States of America, for example, there are now approximately 22,000 funeral homes employing more than 35,000 licensed funeral directors and embalmers.

Employment opportunities occur with large and small funerals and, in general, there are more job openings in this field than there are qualified applicants. However, many funeral homes are still family businesses and mergers and acquisitions could cut the overall number of employees required.

Providing that they have sufficient capital, many undertakers and embalmers become self-employed and set up their own funeral service businesses. Some embalmers work independently performing embalming and restorative art for a group of funeral homes. Some funeral service practitioners work for manufacturers or suppliers of funeral merchandise.

Promotion prospects are generally very limited for funeral directors and embalmers except with large organizations. In some countries, there may be opportunities for drivers and pall bearers to learn all aspects of funeral directing work and become undertakers.

For further information, contact a relevant professional body, such as the board, foundation, association, or institute for funeral services, funeral directors and morticians, embalmers, public health, and hygiene.