Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Consult with families or friends of the deceased to arrange funeral details, such as obituary notice wording, casket selection, or plans for services.
• Perform embalming duties, as necessary.
• Plan, schedule, or coordinate funerals, burials, or cremations, arranging details such as floral delivery or the time and place of services.
• Provide or arrange transportation between sites for the remains, mourners, pallbearers, clergy, or flowers.
• Clean funeral home facilities and grounds.
• Manage funeral home operations, including the hiring, training, or supervision of embalmers, funeral attendants, or other staff.
• Inform survivors of benefits for which they may be eligible.
• Oversee the preparation and care of the remains of people who have died.
• Manage funeral home operations, including the hiring, training, or supervision of embalmers, funeral attendants, or other staff.
• Manage funeral home operations, including the hiring, training, or supervision of embalmers, funeral attendants, or other staff.
• Remove deceased remains from place of death.
• Offer counsel and comfort to bereaved families or friends.
• Direct preparations and shipment of bodies for out-of-state burial.
• Maintain financial records, order merchandise, or prepare accounts.
• Plan placement of caskets at funeral sites or place or adjust lights, fixtures, or floral displays.
• Plan placement of caskets at funeral sites or place or adjust lights, fixtures, or floral displays.
• Close caskets and lead funeral corteges to churches or burial sites.
• Close caskets and lead funeral corteges to churches or burial sites.
• Receive or usher people to their seats for services.
• Participate in community activities for funeral home promotion or other purposes.
• Provide information on funeral service options, products, or merchandise, and maintain a casket display area.
• Discuss and negotiate prearranged funerals with clients.
• Maintain financial records, order merchandise, or prepare accounts.
• Arrange for clergy members to perform needed services.
• Arrange for pallbearers or inform pallbearers or honorary groups of their duties.
• Obtain information needed to complete legal documents, such as death certificates or burial permits.
• Contact cemeteries to schedule the opening and closing of graves.

Skills

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

Abilities

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

Knowledge

• 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.
• 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.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• 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.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 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.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• 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.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• 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.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• 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.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• 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.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• 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.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Education

Education

Associate's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

×

Education and Training Opportunities

• Lake Washington Institute of Technology
  11605 132nd Ave NE, Kirkland WA 98034-8506
  School Type

  Public, 4-year or above

  Admissions
  School Size

  1,000 - 4,999

  Financial Aid 425-739-8100
  Other Degrees Offered

  Undergraduate degree or certificate offering,No graduate offering
  Website

  https://www.lwtech.edu/
  Program Name
  Funeral Direction/Service
  Length
  2 years
  Award Level
  Associate's degree, Bachelor's degree, Certificates of at least 12 weeks but less than 1 year
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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

60010/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

28.85/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

370

Yearly Projected Openings

50

Personality

Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:

• Concern for Others
• Integrity
• Attention to Detail
• Dependability
• Initiative
• Cooperation

Tools

• Air brushes
• Autopsy fluid collection vacuum aspirators or tubing
• Autopsy head rests
• Autopsy knives or blades
• Autopsy saws
• Cadaver lifter or transfer devices
• Centrifugal pumps
• Chemical pumps
• Desktop computers
• Embalming cavity injectors
• Embalming injecting tubes
• Embalming injector needles
• Embalming vein drainage tubes
• Eyewashers or eye wash stations
• Finger ring removers or cutters
• Footwear covers
• Goggles
• Hair care supplies
• Hypodermic needle
• Makeup kits
• Manicure implements
• Medical body bags
• Medical exam or non surgical procedure gloves
• Morgue cabinet refrigerators
• Mortuary aspirators
• Notebook computers
• Operating room patient positioning devices for general use
• Ophthalmic surgical knives or blades
• Paint sprayers
• Personal computers
• Postmortem incision clips
• Postmortem needles
• Protective coveralls
• Protective hood
• Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
• Surgical clamps or clips or forceps
• Surgical isolation or surgical masks
• Surgical needle holders
• Surgical scalpels or knives or blades or trephines
• Surgical scissors
• Surgical shave kits or prep razors or clippers
• Surgical trocars for general use
• Suture needles

Technology

• Customer relationship management CRM software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Electronic mail software
• Human resources software
• Internet browser software
• Office suite software
• Presentation software
• Project management software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software