Funeral directors often work long, irregular hours, and the occupation can be highly stressful. Many are on call at all hours because they may be needed to remove remains in the middle of the night. Shiftwork sometimes is necessary because funeral home hours include evenings and weekends. In smaller funeral homes, working hours vary, but in larger homes employees usually work 8 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week.
Funeral directors occasionally come into contact with the remains of persons who had contagious diseases, but the possibility of infection is remote if strict health regulations are followed.
To show proper respect and consideration for the families and the dead, funeral directors must dress appropriately. The profession usually requires short, neat haircuts and trim beards, if any, for men. Suits and ties for men and dresses for women are customary for a conservative look.
| How often do you have to perform public speaking in this job? |
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| | | | | | Once a year or more but not every month
(31.6900%) | | | |
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| How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? |
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| How often do you use electronic mail in this job? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(32.4800%) | |
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| How often does the job require written letters and memos? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(56.9300%) | |
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| How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? |
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| How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? |
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| | | | | | | | | Constant contact with others
(71.1700%) |
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| How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Extremely important
(52.2800%) |
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| How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Extremely important
(71.7600%) |
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| How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Extremely important
(44.2200%) |
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| How much responsibility is there for the health and safety of others in this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Very high responsibility
(35.4000%) |
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| How responsible is the worker for work outcomes and results of other workers? |
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| | | | | | | | | Very high responsibility
(50.8500%) |
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| How often are there conflict situations the employee has to face in this job? |
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| | | | | | Once a year or more but not every month
(40.8400%) | | | |
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| How frequently does the worker have to deal with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous individuals as part of the job requirements? |
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| | | | | | Once a year or more but not every month
(45.7500%) | | | |
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| How frequently does this job require the worker to deal with physical aggression of violent individuals? |
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| How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? |
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| How often does this job require working indoors in non-controlled environmental conditions (e.g., warehouse without heat)? |
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| How often does this job require working outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(64.3600%) | |
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| How often does this job require working outdoors, under cover (e.g., structure with roof but no walls)? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(38.9400%) | |
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| How often does this job require working in an open vehicle or equipment (e.g., tractor)? |
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| How often does this job require working in a closed vehicle or equipment (e.g., car)? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(50.8500%) | |
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| To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people? |
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| | | | | | | | Moderately close (at arm's length)
(57.4300%) | |
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| How often does this job require working exposed to sounds and noise levels that are distracting or uncomfortable? |
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| How often does this job require working in very hot (above 90 F degrees) or very cold (below 32 F degrees) temperatures? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(30.1800%) | |
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| How often does this job require working in extremely bright or inadequate lighting conditions? |
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| How often does this job require working exposed to contaminants (such as pollutants, gases, dust or odors)? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(55.2500%) | |
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| How often does this job require working in cramped work spaces that requires getting into awkward positions? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to whole body vibration (e.g., operate a jackhammer)? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to radiation? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to disease/infections? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(44.3400%) | |
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| How often does this job require exposure to high places? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to hazardous conditions? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(28.9900%) | |
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| How often does this job require exposure to hazardous equipment? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings? |
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| How much does this job require sitting? |
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| | | | | | | About half the time
(50.7800%) | | |
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| How much does this job require standing? |
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| | | | | | | About half the time
(62.9600%) | | |
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| How much does this job require climbing ladders, scaffolds, or poles? |
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| How much does this job require walking and running? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(64.0200%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require kneeling, crouching, stooping or crawling? |
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| How much does this job require keeping or regaining your balance? |
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| How much does this job require using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(36.0900%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require bending or twisting your body? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(56.3300%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require making repetitive motions? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(45.9300%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(40.4100%) | |
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| How much does this job require wearing specialized protective or safety equipment such as breathing apparatus, safety harness, full protection suits, or radiation protection? |
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| How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable? |
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| | | | | Not serious at all
(27.4600%) | | | | |
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| How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company? |
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| | | | | | | | | Very important results
(55.3800%) |
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| How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? |
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| How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? |
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| | | | | | | | | A lot of freedom
(61.9900%) |
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| How automated is the job? |
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| | | | | Not at all automated
(40.7700%) | | | | |
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| How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Extremely important
(52.8500%) |
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| How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job? |
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| To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? |
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| | | | | | | | | A lot of freedom
(52.2200%) |
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| To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures? |
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| | | | | | | Moderately competitive
(30.8800%) | | |
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| How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(49.8700%) | |
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| How important is it to this job that the pace is determined by the speed of equipment or machinery? (This does not refer to keeping busy at all times on this job.) |
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| | | | | Not important at all
(73.0900%) | | | | |
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| How regular are the work schedules for this job? |
|
| | | Regular (established routine, set schedule)
(61.8500%) | | |
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| Number of hours typically worked in one week. |
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| | | | | More than 40 hours
(62.0200%) |
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4.87
4.79
4.75
4.70
4.63
4.58
4.56
4.42
4.39
4.16
4.15
3.97
3.94
3.92
3.83
4.37
4.25
3.87
3.75
3.50
3.37
3.33
3.25
3.14
3.00
2.93
2.87
2.75
2.62
2.50
2.41
2.37
2.25