Career: Funeral Directors
What type of service is best? Which religious leaders should be included? What customs must be observed? How should the body should be prepared and buried or cremated? Funeral directors work closely with relatives of the deceased to make decisions about these details and more.
Their job is a difficult one. But people in mourning are extremely grateful to these professionals who put together funeral services.
Funeral directors arrange and direct funeral services and sometimes prepare the remains of the deceased for burial (a process called embalming).
Did You Know?
- Funeral expenses can climb into the tens of thousands of dollars when the cost of a casket, grave site, and burial are all taken into account.
Are You Ready To...?
- Be sensitive to different cultural traditions regarding death
- Counsel mourners
- Help the family of the deceased select a casket or an urn
- Contact newspapers to place obituaries
- Schedule wakes, memorial services, and burials
- Prepare the funeral chapel and grave site
- Know federal, state, and local law regarding funeral service
- Work long, irregular hours
It Helps to Be...
A compassionate and sensitive person who is willing and able to counsel the grieving. It also helps to be attentive to detail, a skill you’ll need to handle the business responsibilities of the job.
Make High School Count
- Get a good foundation in biology and chemistry, which you’ll build on when you study embalming.
- Participate in public speaking or debate clubs to help you grow more comfortable with speaking in front of groups of people.
- Get a part-time or summer job in a funeral home. These jobs usually consist mostly of maintenance and cleanup tasks, such as washing and polishing limousines and hearses.
- Take psychology and sociology classes to better understand how people and different cultures deal with death.
Did You Know?
- Most funeral homes are small, family-run businesses and funeral directors have to think about profits in addition to their other concerns.
Outlook
Government economists expect job growth for funeral directors to be as fast as the average for all careers through 2016.
Growth isn’t the only reason jobs open up. Many funeral directors are expected to retire in the coming years. And many leave the field every year for other reasons. They’ll need to be replaced.
Funeral directors who have a license in embalming have an edge. So do those who are willing to relocate.
Compensation
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, funeral directors earned an average annual salary of $58,810 in 2008. Funeral directors in large cities earn more than their counterparts in small towns and rural areas.
