What does a funeral director do?
A funeral director organizes and oversees funeral services, aiming to provide optimal service and support to grieving families. They typically meet with families to identify their needs and help them plan services, arrange transportation for the deceased, prepare and process the body for the service, and assist families every step of the way. They are also responsible for processing documents, liaising with vendors and suppliers, writing obituaries, and resolving conflicts or issues should any arise. Moreover, a funeral director must lead and delegate tasks among staff, monitoring the progress of all operations regularly.
Funeral director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real funeral director resumes:
- Manage subordinates, facilities and MSDS files.
- Greet them with empathy and compassion, conveying to family members that their every need will be meet.
- Escort families to proper burial locations to include; scheduling with appropriate service component regarding ceremonies that are bestow to veterans.
- Provide financial oversight, including budget development, expense management, and financial analysis.
- Certify crematory operator; participate on removals; and assist on calling hours and funerals.
- Specialize in Asian, Hindu, Buddist, Muslim, etc.
- Initiate utilizing cutting edge technology at locations providing families with remembrance DVD's and the option of web casting.
Funeral director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Funeral Directors are proficient in Client Families, Veterans, and Compassion.
We break down the percentage of Funeral Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Client Families, 23%
Completed all documentation and ordering of goods and services related to providing funeral/memorial gatherings for client families.
- Veterans, 21%
Lectured at education events for Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled Veterans of America, and grief support groups.
- Compassion, 19%
Assisted families during calling hours and funerals by treating them with compassion and support.
- Funeral Homes, 16%
Performed Funeral Director services for both companies including multiple funeral homes.
- SCI, 14%
Ensured SOX controls were compliant and performed quarterly SOX audits for other SCI locations
- Removals, 4%
Assisted with local removals from Boulder Community Hospital.
Common skills that a funeral director uses to do their job include "client families," "veterans," and "compassion." You can find details on the most important funeral director responsibilities below.
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a funeral director to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what funeral directors do because "knowledge of financial statements and the ability to run a funeral home efficiently and profitably are important for funeral directors and managers." Additionally, a funeral director resume shows how funeral directors use business skills: "help existing funeral homes in all aspect of there business"
Compassion. Another essential skill to perform funeral director duties is compassion. Funeral directors responsibilities require that "death is a delicate and emotional matter." Funeral directors also use compassion in their role according to a real resume snippet: "consulted with bereaved families, providing guidance, compassion and grief counseling while assisting in arranging funeral or cremation services. "
The three companies that hire the most funeral directors are:
- Rose Hills Mortuary118 funeral directors jobs
- Service Corporation International108 funeral directors jobs
- StoneMor
13 funeral directors jobs
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Compare different funeral directors
Funeral director vs. Mortician
Funeral Arrangers are responsible for assisting in managing funeral arrangements. Their duties include providing service advice, giving support to clients and families, facilitating family visits, answering phone calls, taking messages, and attending inquiries. They are also involved in assisting doctors at refrigeration units, accompanying family members, producing account reconciliations, and managing funeral accounts settlements. Funeral Arrangers also manage petty cash, handle card payments, and undertake administrative tasks such as filing and photocopying. They also take care of monumental masonry sales.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between funeral directors and mortician. For instance, funeral director responsibilities require skills such as "client families," "excellent interpersonal," "veterans," and "compassion." Whereas a mortician is skilled in "death certificates," "funeral services," "scheduling appointments," and "vital statistics." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, morticians reach similar levels of education than funeral directors. Morticians are 2.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Funeral director vs. Licensed mortician
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that funeral director responsibilities requires skills like "client families," "excellent interpersonal," "veterans," and "compassion." But a licensed mortician might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "process payments," "legal papers," "low-income families," and "funeral services."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Licensed morticians tend to reach similar levels of education than funeral directors. In fact, they're 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Funeral director vs. Licensed funeral director and embalmer
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a funeral director is likely to be skilled in "excellent interpersonal," "veterans," "compassion," and "funeral homes," while a typical licensed funeral director and embalmer is skilled in "funeral services," "memorial services," "state regulations," and "federal regulations."
When it comes to education, licensed funeral directors and embalmer tend to earn similar degree levels compared to funeral directors. In fact, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Funeral director vs. Funeral arranger
Updated January 8, 2025
