Occupation Details
Embalmers
Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.
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Interests
Realistic
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.
Investigative
Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Conventional
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.
Work Values
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. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Support
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Independence
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Salary & Job Outlook
Starting Salary
$40,710.00
New York StateMedian Salary
$49,510.00
New York StateExperienced Salary
$55,120.00
New York StateNational Average for Comparison
New York State Job Market Outlook
Jobs Right Now (2018)
3,040
professionals in NYFuture Job Growth (2030)
5,240
+220 jobs/yearNew Jobs Every Year
729
new opportunities yearlyGrowth Rate
0.7%
projected increasePreparation: Experience, Training, and Education
The list below outlines the prior educational experience required to perform in this occupation.
College Helps - Some college classes or training
Experience Requirements
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education Requirements
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Training Details
Employees in these occupations 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 these occupations.
Transferrable Skills and Experience
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
School Programs
The following lists school programs which are applicable to this occupation.
Licensing & Certification
State License and Certifications Requirements are not currently associated with this occupation.
Apprenticeship
Contact your regional representative to learn more about apprenticeships available in your area by visiting Apprenticeship Contacts.
Skills
The list below includes the skills required by workers in this occupation; skills are what allow you to learn more quickly and improve your performance.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Skill level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Knowledge
The list below includes knowledge items, the principles and facts required by this occupation.
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.
Chemistry
Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
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.
English Language
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Administrative
Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Philosophy and Theology
Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Knowledge level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Work Environment
The list below includes the physical and social factors that influence the nature of work in this occupation.
Hover over or tap each factor to see its description.
Work Styles
Included in the list below are the personal work style characteristics that can affect how well a worker is likely to perform in this occupation.
Attention to Detail
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Concern for Others
Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Cooperation
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Initiative
Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Persistence
Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Self-Control
Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Social Orientation
Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Tools & Technology
This list below describes the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology that workers in this occupation will use.
Tools
- Adult trocars
- Air brushes
- Aneurysm needles
- Angular forceps
- Arm and hand positioners
- Axillary drain tubes
- Barber scissors
- Bistoury knives
- Blending brushes
- Body bags
- Body positioners
- Calvarium clamps
- Carotid tubes
- Casket lifters
- Centrifugal force pumps
- Cosmetic brushes
- Curved Kelly forceps
- Curved arterial tubes
- Curved suture needles
- Cuticle scissors
- Desktop computers
- Electric mortuary aspirators
- Embalming bulb syringes
- Embalming fluid pumps
- Embalming injector needles
- Embalming machines
- Embalming syringes
- Embalming vein drainage tubing
- Emergency eye wash stations
- Extremity positioners
Technology
- Belmar & Associates Mortware
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- HMIS Advantage
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Word
- Twin Tier Technologies MIMS
Duties
Duties are job behaviors describing activities that occur on multiple jobs. The generalized and detailed work activities described in the list below apply to this occupation.
- testify in court for accident and criminal cases
- consult with customers concerning needs
- maintain or repair work tools or equipment
- direct funeral services
- direct and coordinate activities of workers or staff
- coordinate activities of assistants
- schedule activities, classes, or events
- arrange for transportation or accommodations
- maintain records, reports, or files
- file documents in court
- apply make-up
- use hair, cosmetic, or nail care instruments
- arrange decorations or furniture for banquets or social functions
- assist in carrying casket
- interview customers
- provide customer service
- greet customers, guests, visitors, or passengers
- use health or sanitation standards
- follow infectious materials procedures
- use knowledge of relevant laws
- ensure compliance with government regulations
- interview family members to arrange funeral details
- determine funeral arrangements
- sew by hand
- administer injections
- administer enemas, irrigations, or douches to patients
- prepare bodies for interment
Tasks
The list below outlines specific tasks that a worker in this occupation is called upon to do regularly.
- Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.
- Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.
- Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
- Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
- Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
- Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
- Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
- Remove the deceased from place of death and transport to funeral home.
- Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.
- Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.
- Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.
- Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.
- Conduct interviews to arrange for the preparation of obituary notices, to assist with the selection of caskets or urns, and to determine the location and time of burials or cremations.
- Insert convex celluloid or cotton between eyeballs and eyelids to prevent slipping and sinking of eyelids.
- Assist with placing caskets in hearses and organize cemetery processions.
- Maintain records, such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.
- Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.
- Arrange for transporting the deceased to another state for interment.
- Perform special procedures necessary for remains that are to be transported to other states or overseas, or where death was caused by infectious disease.
- Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.
- Serve as pallbearers, attend visiting rooms, and provide other assistance to the bereaved.
- Direct casket and floral display placement and arrange guest seating.
- Arrange funeral home equipment and perform general maintenance.
- Assist coroners at death scenes or at autopsies, file police reports, and testify at inquests or in court, if employed by a coroner.
- Press diaphragm to evacuate air from lungs.
Learning Resources
More information on this occupation may be found in the links provided below.
Funeral directors
Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
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