What is a Mortician?
A mortician is known to be the person or the individual that has to deal with people that are dead. This professional has to deal with the embalming of the dead, his burial or even cremation. His tasks also involve the funeral itself and all the arrangement that involve it. The planning of the ceremony is in his hands. If you truly want to become a mortician, then make sure that you are prepared to face various scenarios of dead people and that you are capable to fulfill all the tasks of this job.
Job Description of a Mortician
People also know a mortician by his other name: funeral director. He has the job not only to prepare everything that involves the process of a funeral, but he helps the families that have a deceased person in the family by managing many details of planning a funeral.
Their main duties involve transferring the body of the dead person to a mortuary. Morticians also need to make sure that they arrange the deceased one’s remaining for the act or the ceremony. In order for this to happen, they perform all the rites that are in accordance with the spiritual requirements of their family, and the last detail arranging the last disposition of the bodies.
The job requirements can be emotionally challenging and very stressful compared with other jobs in which you are dealing with people that are alive. For this, you have to be truly prepared and physically able to commit and fulfill all the tasks.
How to Become a Mortician?
As a mortician, your level of education must be valued by possessing an associated degree. You can truly consider this a minimum requirement. Or you’ll have to fulfill the licensing requirements that are the equivalent of college credit numbers. In addition, an internship will be well received even when you are searching for a good job.
In order to succeed in this job follow this steps that will guide you on every level of required education. You’ll first need to be able to start with one or even two years of college after you’ve earned your high school diploma. In some states being enrolled in a mortuary college will ask to follow some specific courses such as computer science or even gerontology.
The best way to go on this path is to start with an accredited mortuary college. Mainly the classes and the courses of mortuary science programs might be accredited by the ABFSE. The course works involve classes such as federal regulations, chemistry, anatomy, microbiology, professional ethics, embalming, counseling, pathology and other that will help you in your future job.
If you want to advance in this job, for instance, to consider a career on your own you could consider taking some business courses that will help a lot with your career. Such courses will also help the way you’ll administer and run things.
Communication courses help a lot also since you’ll work a lot with the families of people who are deceased as a mortician. For such work, you’ll need to know how to react and how to behave and maintain a good interaction. You’ll need to develop these conversational skills in order to determine and understand which the family’s wishes for the ritual of burying are.
The morticians usually are asked by the ABFSE to follow one or up to three years of internship or apprenticeship. Depending on each state’s requirements, you can follow the courses of apprenticeship while you are going through the formal educational process, before it or even after.
As an apprentice, there are states that require to possess a license. To learn the role and purpose of such a license, think about a driver’s permit – it’s the same importance. You can work as a mortician under the surveillance and the guidance of an experienced professional.
Morticians are required to pass the national licensing exam and in certain states also to pass a state licensing examination. You will have to make sure you prepare consciously, paying attention to all details, for passing the national exam. The covered subjects mostly include psychology, microbiology, anatomy, restorative art, embalming, funeral service history and merchandising and other.
After you’ve fulfilled all the educational requirements, you’ll have to continue with the educational process. The main reason for this is because you’ll be currently informed of the actual laws of the funeral services as well as the trends that are available and accurate in the industry. You can continue your education through the available options that can be found on the site or by a distance learning form.
By choosing the distance option, you’ll have the benefits of online coursework, teleconferences and other. By choosing the on-site option, you’ll be provided with actual seminaries, courses that will develop you and even workshops.
If you are thinking to expand you options, you can easily start by earning some voluntary designations. One of such designations is the CFSP also known as the Certified Funeral Service Practitioner. The CFSP will also help you to stand out in this profession and field.
Work Environment and Schedule
As a mortician, your job environment will be mainly placed in crematories or funeral homes not to mention that the majority of these professionals have to be on site 24 hours this meaning a full-time job. These professionals are asked to work on weekends or to be at their working site even during the night. This will involve long hours of work.
Pros and Cons of Being a Mortician
When you start working as a mortician, you should truly consider the fact that this job can be pretty rewarding. This is due especially to the fact that you are doing a very good job in the community and in the lives of other people who are dealing with a deceased person in their family. You can see every part of your job as a great help for those who lost someone who is beloved. It is all part of a shift and getting used to the fact that you are now accustomed that the beloved now is in the afterlife.
Another good pro is that the requirements that must be fulfilled are not that high. You can not and should not compare it with the one of a doctor that needs a lot more training and educational programs then a mortician.
The majority of states expect that a mortician should possess only one or two years of an accredited mortuary college program. Additionally to this one or two years of the apprentice that can be achieved by school classes.
The salary in this job is very stable and working as a mortician will allow you to live comfortable. The median salary for a mortician can easily be established at $50,010 per year while those who are among the top ten can reach an income estimated to be at $100,010 per year. This earning is quite high concerning the education requirements that have to be fulfilled.
The job opportunities are quoted to be very high because of the wide industry of funeral services that in US is growing and growing. Many morticians are working on their own being self-employed and even owning a funeral home.
The cons in this job start with the long hours of work and with a schedule that is not always as you wanted. A crazy schedule can happen because you can never program when someone dies, and the family of the deceased needs your help. You’ll be on call even at 4 AM and asked to transfer a body and prepare it for embalming.
Unfortunately working as a mortician can make you be the favorite joking topic in family or friend reunions, or they will think that you are a very weird or crazy person to gain your living that way. Working with dead people is not a good scenario to see because there are some of them who are disfigured or who suffered accidents or have been in other events – this is not a good sight to watch. At some point, because you are working for several years in the industry of funeral homes you might start thinking that the dead are talking with you.
Another con that you could encounter in this job is the fact that many of the deceased families can be very demanding with everything and with the whole process of the funeral. Everything has to be perfect even in this case when we are talking about a funeral. You’ll have to be present even at odd hours and fulfill the demanding of the family and sometimes it would be hard to be on the same page with them.
Mortician Job growth
The employment growth rate for morticians is projected and predicted at 18% rate of increase, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This growth is mainly applied in the urban area sectors due to the main factor of an increased and a large number of population. There is a required need for the funeral services and their workers in various sectors of the population, especially in the elderly population that usually are prearranging their end-life-services contacting from early times these professionals.
Some of the job openings are the result of replacement of workers who decide to leave the field each year while other best opportunities arise for those who are usually licensed as both embalmer and funeral director and are ready and willing to relocate. Other factors that impact this increase is related to the nature itself of the job as well as the number of cases of expected deaths among the larger sector or segment of the actual population.
The job satisfaction is a good one. There are some good work opportunities for those who seek these kinds of jobs. People in this field are of great aid when the time comes and will always play a vital role in the society in which we are living since there will always be needed.
The salary of a mortician in US is influenced based on multiple factors that influence a lot. For instance, you’ll start by having a salary of $21,334 per year but it will increase over time, based on the experience that you gather up.
If you are working for a year, your income can be estimated to reach at $45,959 per year while if you are working for five years than your salary can reach $59,597 per year. With other words in the United States, the average salary is estimated to vary between $23,379 and up to $62,469 per year while the median income is estimated at $36.708 per year.
A yearly bonus is given, and it will vary depending on the year of experience in this field. For instance working in this job up to four years, the yearly bonus reaches at about $510 while working more than nine years the annual bonus will double reaching $1010.
Salary of a Mortician in 2015
In the United States, the salary of a mortician for the year 2015 is still influenced by the same factors the main one being the years of experience in this field. The job opportunities can be found wide open since this industry is very blooming, and it will never end.
There are plenty of job possibilities, and the growing is very high and you truly have to be good in this profession, especially when it comes to establishing a relationship with the family of the deceased.
Mortician Salary in 2016
The average median income for a mortician, in the United States, for the year 2016, is estimated to be around $43,813 per year, according to the salary data information provided by PayScale. The vast majority of those who operate as morticians are mainly men rather than female.
The starting point in the salary of these professionals is estimated to be from $25,457 per year and up to $64,986 per year. The bonuses that are usually granted in this field tend to reach at $4,028 while the profit sharing is $13.71. The commissions that are received are estimated at around $3,251, this leading in the end at a total payment that is comprised between $25,620 and up to $63,315.
The main factors that impact the incomes of morticians are related to the geographical location, years of experience in the field and type of employment. When it comes to the years of the experience factor, the income of these professionals varies. For instance, an entry-level mortician with up to five years of experience in the field can expect to earn around $36,010 per year while one individual with 5 and up to 10 years of working activity can expect to take home around $45,010 per year.
An experienced mortician with 10 and up to 20 years of experience in the field can expect to earn around $53,010 per year while a veteran in this field with a career that comprises more than 20 years of working experience and with plenty of activity can expect to earn around $52,010 per year. According to Indeed, the average job salary for a mortician is estimated to be around $40,010 per year the same annual income as of an Autopsy Technician.
Mortician salary in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
- The average wage for a mortician in Canada is estimated to vary between C$31,152 and go up to C$61,132 per year. The median salary that is received in this field is estimated to reach C$41,706 per year. The salary will also vary depending on factors such as the geographical location, the years of experience, and the type of employment that can be public or private, or you can have your own business.
- In Australia, for instance, the salary of a mortician is estimated to vary between AU$35,114 and AU$63,946 per year. The top yearly bonus that is granted to these professionals in this field is estimated to reach AU$17,510 per year.
- In the UK, an average mortician salary is estimated between £13,974 and £27,634 per year. Based on the experience a yearly salary and bonus are added. For instance, if you are working for more than three years you’ll receive a salary that is estimated between £13,868 and £25,254 per year with a yearly bonus of $610. Those who already have 19 years of experience in the field will receive a salary that is estimated to reach at £39,734 per year with a bonus of about $52 per year. People are in need for this kind of professionals, and they are very valued since they are doing a lot of good in many communities. The prospects for morticians are surely good in the United Kingdom and there is a constant growth in this field with many advancement possibilities.
Conclusion on Mortician Salary
Having a mortician job can open many new and interesting opportunities and the rewarding is great. The fact is true that you will deal with people that are not alive but being a help in times of need for the families can change a lot, and you’ll be truly appreciated.
The mortician income varies a lot based on these factors mentioned earlier and is influenced by the experience and the knowledge that is gathered.
- First Published Date: 16 April, 2015
- Last Updated Date: 3 October, 2016