Funeral Attendants

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Assist with cremations and the processing and packaging of cremated remains.
• Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased.
• Attend to the needs of the bereaved, such as by offering comfort, counseling, or after-care programs.
• Clean and drive funeral vehicles, such as cars or hearses, in funeral processions.
• Offer assistance to mourners as they enter or exit limousines.
• Prepare obituaries for newspapers.
• Deliver floral arrangements or other items to family members of the deceased.
• Issue and store funeral equipment.
• Transport the deceased to the funeral home.
• Obtain burial permits and register deaths.
• Assist with cremations and the processing and packaging of cremated remains.
• Greet people at the funeral home.
• Supervise funeral processions and assist with cemetery parking.
• Perform a variety of tasks during funerals to assist funeral directors and to ensure that services run smoothly and as planned.
• Carry flowers to hearses or limousines for transportation to places of interment.
• Clean funeral parlors or chapels.
• Perform general maintenance tasks for funeral homes, such as maintaining equipment or caring for funeral grounds.
• Close caskets at appropriate point in services.
• Clean and drive funeral vehicles, such as cars or hearses, in funeral processions.
• Place caskets in parlors or chapels prior to wakes or funerals.
• Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased.
• Perform various administrative tasks, such as typing documents or answering telephone calls.
• Arrange floral offerings or lights around caskets.
• Obtain doctors' signatures on death certificate and complete other paperwork, such as insurance claims forms.
• Direct or escort mourners to parlors or chapels in which wakes or funerals are being held.
• Direct or escort mourners to parlors or chapels in which wakes or funerals are being held.
• Act as pallbearers.
• Provide advice to mourners on how to make charitable donations in honor of the deceased.

Skills

• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

Abilities

• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

Knowledge

• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

38480/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

18.5/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

260

Yearly Projected Openings

40

Personality

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

• Integrity
• Attention to Detail
• Concern for Others
• Dependability
• Self Control
• Cooperation

Tools

• Articulating boom lift
• Automobiles or cars
• Autopsy tables
• Cadaver carriers
• Cadaver lifter or transfer devices
• Container trailers
• Conveyor roller
• Dating or numbering machines
• Latch
• Limousines
• Minivans or vans
• Tampers

Technology

• Accounting software
• Human resources software
• Office suite software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software