Funeral attendants perform a variety of tasks during funeral, such as placing the casket in a parlor or chapel prior to service, arranging floral offerings or lights around the casket, directing or escorting mourners, closing the casket, and issuing and storing funeral equipment.

  • Greet people at the funeral home.
  • Perform a variety of tasks during funerals to assist funeral directors and to ensure that services run smoothly and as planned.
  • Transport the deceased to the funeral home.
  • Direct or escort mourners to parlors or chapels in which wakes or funerals are being held.
  • Close caskets at appropriate point in services.
  • Attend to the needs of the bereaved, such as by offering comfort, counseling, or after-care programs.
  • Offer assistance to mourners as they enter or exit limousines.
  • Place caskets in parlors or chapels prior to wakes or funerals.
  • Clean and drive funeral vehicles, such as cars or hearses, in funeral processions.
  • Carry flowers to hearses or limousines for transportation to places of interment.
  • Arrange floral offerings or lights around caskets.
  • Perform various administrative tasks, such as typing documents or answering telephone calls.
  • Supervise funeral processions and assist with cemetery parking.
  • Act as pallbearers.
  • Clean funeral parlors or chapels.
  • Deliver floral arrangements or other items to family members of the deceased.
  • Issue and store funeral equipment.
  • Perform general maintenance tasks for funeral homes, such as maintaining equipment or caring for funeral grounds.
  • Provide advice to mourners on how to make charitable donations in honor of the deceased.
  • Embalm, dress, cosmeticize, and casket the deceased.
  • Manage funeral home finances, including receiving payments, making bank deposits, or performing general bookkeeping duties.
  • Assist with cremations and the processing and packaging of cremated remains.
  • Obtain burial permits and register deaths.
  • Obtain doctors' signatures on death certificate and complete other paperwork, such as insurance claims forms.
  • Meet with family members to plan the funeral.
  • Prepare obituaries for newspapers.
Work Context
  • Telephone — 73% responded "Every day".
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 76% responded "Extremely important".
  • Time Pressure — 62% responded "Every day".
  • Contact With Others — 60% responded "Constant contact with others".
  • Deal With External Customers — 63% responded "Extremely important".
  • Outdoors, Exposed to Weather — 55% responded "Every day".
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 70% responded "Every day".
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Work Activities
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.
  • Perform administrative or clerical tasks.
  • Direct funeral or mortuary activities.
  • Deliver items.
  • Maintain facilities.
  • Apply makeup to alter or enhance appearance.
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Knowledge

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.
English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills

Social Perceptiveness
  • Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking
  • Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Service Orientation
  • Actively looking for ways to help people.
Active Listening
  • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
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Abilities

Oral Comprehension
  • The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression
  • The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Recognition
  • The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Speech Clarity
  • The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel Hot Technology
Word processing software
  • Microsoft Word Hot Technology
Accounting software
  • Bookkeeping software