The funeral service profession doesn’t often come to peoples’ minds as a career choice but I just so happened to always have it in the back of mine. My cousin Faith is in the business and at one point even owned a funeral home. It was hearing her stories from a young age that made me think that she had such an interesting job and every time I went to a funeral I’d think of her and the people behind the scenes.
At first, I decided to do some online research to see what it entailed and I discovered two things: 1) Although there are many different capacities and roles, funeral directing seemed to be the area I was most interested in and 2) it would require doing an apprenticeship to get a license and there was a high possibility it would also require training as an Embalmer. Other than that I couldn’t find out much more – there’s a lack of information out there. So I figured another two things: 1) I gotta call Faith and 2) if this works out, I should spread some information out there – voila, this blog.
I met with Faith and she agreed I fit the funeral director profile (see “About” page) and then I asked about the apprenticeship. She explained that the company she works for requires that funeral directors are also embalmers. The reason being, that they own numerous homes (that’s common) and not all funeral homes have service centers. A service centre is where all the preparatory work, embalming and casketing is completed. So if I were hired to work in a smaller facility that did not have a service center, as a funeral director I would need to do the embalming as well as all the other duties required to serve the family.
It’s not that I have a problem being near a dead person, and I find embalming very interesting…I just don’t know if my weak stomach can handle it. Faith explained that the actual fluid process is quite simple, just a small incision in the neck where the chemicals flow in and the blood flows out but it’s the autopsy bodies that take a while to get used to. Also, there’s no middle man between the time of death and the embalmer…the body goes straight to you from wherever it may be…the hospital, scene of the accident, you name it, you see it all. She said though that it’s very rare that you jump right into an apprenticeship, you usually have to be involved with the funeral home first whether it be volunteering, being an attendant, being on call or lucking out with an admin job. I didn’t want to rule out this potential career, I’d try embalming, so I asked if she had any references. The next thing you know, she’s opened the door for me and I’m meeting with a GM at a local funeral home, one who I shall call John.
The first meeting with John was just to discuss the biz and offer my services on a volunteer basis but it just so happened that this funeral home was really swamped. John took a closer look at my qualifications and then subjected me to a rather intense interviewing process. Over the course of 3 meetings I completed a good 7 hours of sit down interview time. I also had several forms to fill out including drug and alcohol testing forms, a criminal record check and I supplied them with 6 references. (I swear, if this career doesn’t work out I’m going to be a professional interviewer). At the end of the process though, I was given an admin job where I will primarily be assisting funeral directors.
I couldn’t ask for a better start though, I will be working with everyone – the funeral directors, managers, admin staff, cemetery staff and embalmers. I already knew John and I would get along well, he was so kind-hearted, had a great sense of humor and we had some things in common, like our favourite place to travel. A couple of other people I had met so far too I knew I would enjoy working with. This was going to be a great start job to learn all about the profession and at the same time this would ensure that I was the right fit for myself and the company. It was good timing too. It’s almost February and the apprenticeships only start in September. I will have a chance to witness embalming and determine if I want to go ahead with a funeral directing/embalming apprenticeship. It’s not like I couldn’t just do a funeral directing apprenticeship, especially this place, it has the funeral home, service center and cemetery – the full package. I just might be eliminating some options in the future. Just so you know, there is just an embalming apprenticeship too. Some people go into it wanting to do both and love the embalming side. No matter what though, John informed me that even if I don’t take the embalming apprenticeship that I am required, and will have fun doing, the washing, dressing, hair and makeup on the deceased. “Fun?” I asked John, “Well yeah” he replied, “what are the first three letters of funeral?” and a big glowing smile wiped across his face.