Career profile Mortician

Table of Contents

• What does a Mortician do?
• What is a typical salary for a Mortician?
• What personality traits are common among Morticians?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Morticians need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Mortician do?

Morticians perform various tasks to arrange and direct individual funeral services, such as coordinating transportation of body to mortuary, interviewing family or other authorized person to arrange details, selecting pallbearers, aiding with the selection of officials for religious rites, and providing transportation for mourners.

What kind of tasks does a Mortician perform regularly?

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

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

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

What is a Mortician salary?

What personality traits are common among Morticians?

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 Mortician are usually higher in their Enterprising, Social, and Conventional interests.

Morticians typically have very strong 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.

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

Lastly, Morticians typically have moderate Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

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 Mortician tend to value Relationships, Independence, and Achievement.

Most importantly, Morticians very 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, Morticians strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Lastly, Morticians moderately value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

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 Morticians must consistently demonstrate qualities such as concern for others, attention to detail, and integrity.

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

What education and training do Morticians need?

Morticians often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Morticians usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Morticians

• 3.0% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 8.7% completed high school or secondary school
• 17.2% completed some college coursework
• 37.1% earned a Associate's degree
• 25.8% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 4.4% earned a Master's degree
• 3.8% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Morticians

Important Abilities needed by Morticians

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

Critical Skills needed by Morticians

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.

Morticians frequently use skills like social perceptiveness, active listening, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Morticians, ranked by their relative importance.

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.

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