Career profile for Funeral Attendant

What does a Funeral Attendant do?

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

What kind of tasks does a Funeral Attendant perform regularly?

Funeral Attendants are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Greet people at the funeral home.
Transport the deceased to the funeral home.
Perform a variety of tasks during funerals to assist funeral directors and to ensure that services run smoothly and as planned.
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.
Carry flowers to hearses or limousines for transportation to places of interment.
Clean and drive funeral vehicles, such as cars or hearses, in funeral processions.
Supervise funeral processions and assist with cemetery parking.
Arrange floral offerings or lights around caskets.
Perform various administrative tasks, such as typing documents or answering telephone calls.
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.

The above responsibilities are specific to Funeral Attendants. More generally, Funeral Attendants are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Assisting and Caring for Others		Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
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.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events		Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Communicating with People Outside the 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.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Assisting and Caring for Others

Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.

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.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Communicating with People Outside the 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.

What is a Funeral Attendant salary?

The median salary for a Funeral Attendant is $29,150, and the average salary is $31,130. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Funeral Attendant salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Funeral Attendants earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Funeral Attendants earn less than $20,160 per year, 25% earn less than $23,770, 75% earn less than $36,690, and 90% earn less than $46,160.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Funeral Attendants is expected to change by 3.3%, and there should be roughly 5,800 open positions for Funeral Attendants every year.

Median annual salary: $29,150
Typical salary range: $20,160 - $46,160
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 3.3%

What personality traits are common among Funeral Attendants?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Funeral Attendant are usually higher in their Social, Realistic, and Enterprising interests.

Funeral Attendants typically have very strong Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Also, Funeral Attendants typically have moderate Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Lastly, Funeral Attendants typically have moderate Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Funeral Attendant tend to value Relationships, Support, and Independence.

Most importantly, Funeral Attendants strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Funeral Attendants moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Lastly, Funeral Attendants somewhat value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Funeral Attendants must consistently demonstrate qualities such as integrity, dependability, and concern for others.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Funeral Attendants, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Concern for Others		Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Cooperation		Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Concern for Others

Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Cooperation

Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

What education and training do Funeral Attendants need?

Working as a Funeral Attendant usually requires a high school diploma.

Funeral Attendants need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Funeral Attendants

6.3% did not complete high school or secondary school
25.3% completed high school or secondary school
26.8% completed some college coursework
16.8% earned a Associate's degree
19.7% earned a Bachelor's degree
3.8% earned a Master's degree
1.4% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Funeral Attendants

Funeral Attendants may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as customer and personal service, public safety and security, or psychology knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Funeral Attendants might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
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.
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.
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.
Transportation		Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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.

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.

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.

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.

Transportation

Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

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.

Important Abilities needed by Funeral Attendants

Funeral Attendants must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Funeral Attendants need abilities such as oral comprehension, oral expression, and speech recognition in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Funeral Attendants, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
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.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

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.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Critical Skills needed by Funeral Attendants

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Funeral Attendants frequently use skills like social perceptiveness, speaking, and service orientation to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Funeral Attendants, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
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.
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

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.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Funeral Attendant

Funeral Attendant

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