Career Corner Life as a... Funeral director
If you've got great people-skills, are brilliantly organised, and don't freak out at the thought of dealing with the dead, you might like to consider a career as a funeral director.
In the clip above from Flashy Funerals, a funeral director heads out on a mission to seek out a spot for a burial in one of the country's most sought after cemetries. Watch the full documentary here.
From skills required, to your expected salary, below we outline everything you need to know on how to make the deceased your day job...
If you have no awareness of the funeral industry, you can do funeral service awareness online training after registering with the National Association of Funeral Directors. This course will help you learn about the industry, including what roles are available, how to arrange a funeral, and how to deal with those experiencing grief.
A great way of gaining the necessary knowledge and experience would be to start off as an administrator or service arranger. This way, you would receive on-the-job training and after 6 months, you will be able to gain a NAFD qualification in either of these positions.
To be a successful funeral director, the following abilities will be required:
- Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail
- Good people and communication skills, even in particularly stressful situations
- Politeness and a dignified manner
- Flexibility and an acceptance of all cultures and religious beliefs
An average day is likely to include at least some of the following...
- Noting down details about the deceased that relatives or friends will provide you with, as well as working together to arrange the funeral
- Arranging for the body to be transferred to a place of rest before the funeral takes place
- Preparing the body for a burial or cremation
- Arranging the date and time of the funeral with the location where the body will be put to rest
- Advising on any legal issues and sorting out necessary paperwork
- Organising extras such as flowers and transportation
- Ensuring that the ceremony runs smoothly
- Advising on memorials
As a starter, you will earn between £15,000 and £17,000. For someone with a bit more experience, the salary will probably be around £18,000 to £25,000 and for those who are highly experienced, it can be up to £30,000.
You'll have to be willing to work some, shall we say, untraditional hours! Days will vary and may be on a rota system. As well as working "normal" hours, which will mostly involve carrying out administrative tasks, you might need to visit families in the evenings and weekends and will be required to be on call at every hour of the day, every day. Of course, you will also attend funerals which means you may need to stand outside for hours at a time, no matter what the weather.
You could go on to do branch or regional management, and with the correct qualifications you could even become a tutor and teach NAFD (National Association of Funeral Directors) qualifications. Find out more about the NAFD in the links below.
