No visible tattoos or facial piercings. Must have a professional image and will need to adhere to Holloway Funeral Home's dress and grooming standards.
The dress code is pulled straight from the 1950's. ANY visible tattoos almost assuredly bar you from employment.
Furthermore, a recent study with a small sample of ten funeral directors, showed that half of them possibly had PTSD during COVID-19 [17], while a master thesis showed that 28.5% of funeral directors in the U.S. met PTSD-criteria before COVID-19 [18].
The best morticians are those who enjoy leading people, teaching people, and helping people in need. They also have great interpersonal skills. When speaking with family members, for example, a mortician should be clear, yet tactful and considerate, about the services provided.
Facial hair is okay, but it should be cleanly trimmed (daily if needed). Even your fingernails matter. In times of grief, eye contact can be difficult to maintain so clients may focus on your hands.
Do they remove organs when you are embalmed? One of the most common questions people have about embalming is whether or not organs are removed. The answer is no; all of the organs remain in the body during the embalming process.
In a field centered on caring for the deceased and their bereaved families, the mental health of the death care professional is seldom considered. With long hours, unpredictable workweeks, and emotional demands, funeral directors are continuously exposed to significant psychological stressors.
Morticians must be intelligent and disciplined academically, as the course work is rigorous. A mortician is trained by going to college for two to four years, studying topics such as anatomy and physiology, embalming, art, business, accounting, social sciences, ethics, biology, chemistry, grief counseling and law.
Interestingly enough, the average age of morticians is 40+ years old, which represents 76% of the population.
Eyes and lips are not sewn or glued shut. During the embalming process, an "eye cap" is placed under each eyelid and over the eyeball. The eyes themselves may soften a little over time, but the eye cap helps to retain the shape of the eye. A Vaseline-like cream is placed on the lips to keep them together.
Sometimes called desairologists, mortuary cosmetologists are trained to use products to style or alter the hair, face, and nails to prepare a deceased person for viewing and/or burial.
The job is physically and emotionally draining.
You're also sometimes on call during the middle of the night — not every hospital has a refrigeration system to keep bodies overnight — which can eat into your sleep schedule. It's emotionally exhausting as well.
Jobs that traditionally deal with death, like cremators, morticians, funeral directors, and coroners have annual salaries ranging from $44,000 to $77,000 per year.
The salaries of Funeral Director & Morticians in the US range from $102,958 to $140,090 , with a median salary of $114,640 . The middle 57% of Funeral Director & Morticians makes between $114,640 and $122,638, with the top 86% making $140,090.
Typical Work Schedule
Morticians work full-time schedules, and commonly work overtime. The job of mortician is not a 9-5 role—morticians are on-call often to handle emergencies at all hours of the day and all days of the year.
The highest 10 percent of embalmers make more than $69,900 per year, or $33.61 per hour. Embalmers in the lowest 10 percent income bracket earn $23,600, or $11.35 per hour. An embalmer working as a mortician or funeral director earns a median annual salary of $51,850, or $24.93 per hour.
The median annual wage for morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers was $48,950 in May 2021. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $29,640, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $83,550. Most funeral service workers are employed full time, and some work more than 40 hours per week.
How long can a hospital keep the body of a deceased person after death? A hospital is allowed to keep the body of a deceased person in a hospital mortuary for up to 21 days after the date of death (section 80 of the Regulation).
“The shortage is so serious right now that there's a 90% job placement rate for graduates of these programs,” said Leili McMurrough, program director at Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Wheeling, Illinois, one of the nation's oldest mortuary schools dating back to 1911.
While the funeral director or mortician is charged with actually dressing the body, the clothing is selected by the family. Some families have preferences for what they want their loved ones to wear, and some individuals also include their burial clothing as part of their final wishes.
Military mortuary workers and civilian body handlers in disaster settings can develop PTSD.
Many people who study mortuary science go on to become funeral directors. This is a highly rewarding job for many who enjoy being able to work closely with people to honor their last wishes, provide grief services, and plan life celebrations. But there are also other career paths available with this degree.
One of the often-overlooked side effects of working in funeral service is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue represent a serious group of related problems for people who care for, hear about or witness the intense suffering of others.