A Funeral Director’s main responsibility is to arrange the details of a funeral from start to finish. They’ll typically work in funeral homes or crematories.
On a regular day at work, a Funeral Director could be carrying out any of the following tasks:
Before the funeral
- Arranging the transportation of the deceased person to the funeral home
- Preparing the body for the funeral
- Organising and submitting relevant paperwork and legal documents
- Placing death notices in local papers or online
- Offering funeral options e.g. burial or cremation
The funeral service
- Communicating with family and/or friends of the deceased to ensure the funeral reflects their wishes
- Arranging vehicles to be used to transport the deceased and family/friends to the funeral location
- Organising the Order of Service sheets
- Offering floral tributes (and looking after those that are delivered to the funeral location prior to the service)
- Offering coffins/caskets/head stones to suit a range of budgets
- Organising the wake, including catering
After the funeral
- Organising ‘thank you’ cards for those who attended the service
- Helping families to arrange the scattering of the ashes, and/or offering them a suitable casket to store ashes in
What skills do I need?
The right person will:
- Show sensitivity – you’ll be dealing directly with grieving families/friends, so it’s important that you can communicate in the right way
- Be highly organised – funerals are sad and stressful times for people, so the more organised you can be, the easier it will be for those involved
- Be comfortable talking about death and dealing with the body of the deceased
- Be keen to help people preserve their loved one’s memory
- Have excellent communication skills
- Be able to think creatively
- Have great attention to detail – grieving families already have a lot to deal with and think about, so it’s your job to make sure that none of the funeral arrangements slip through the net
- Be able to stay calm and patient in difficult situations
What will I like about the job?
- Helping people say goodbye to the people they love
- Supporting families during some of the toughest times of their lives
- Making a difficult process as easy as possible for those involved
What are the challenges?
Dealing with death is never pleasant, but there is a lot of satisfaction to be found in helping people celebrate the life of someone who has recently died.
How much will I earn?
As a Funeral Director, you’ll earn an estimated salary of £15,000 – £30,000 (and will sometimes be given a car).
Are there opportunities to progress?
If you work for a large organisation, you could go on to be promoted to branch or regional management.