Words Of Advice

April 26 will mark my one year anniversary in my new profession. Looking back over the past year I can see how far I've come, and how far I've yet to go.
With this in mind, I'm posting a few words of advice for Funeral Service Students and Teachers.

For Students:
Please don't think that graduating school means you automatically know everything required to immediately jump in and do all the work of a funeral director and embalmer. I thought I was the best prepared of anybody, but once I actually got in the prep room I realized just how much more I needed to work and learn. This job is like learning to bowl from reading a book: you can get the terminology down, you can understand what you have to do, what your desired results are, but until you actually pick up a ball and roll your first frame, it's quite different than what you might expect.

When you do start working in a funeral home, everyone there can help you and teach you. Not only have I learned a lot from the owner and my boss, but also our courier. He's the one who taught me how to make removals. Even our secretary has taught me a lot of things, especially about all of the paperwork involved: Death certificates, Burial and Transit Permits, Cremation Authorizations, writing obituaries, etc. She has told me that in the past she has dealt with interns and graduates who looked down on her because she was a mere secretary, not a real funeral director, therefore she had nothing of value she could teach them. She then pointed out to me that all of those people no longer worked at our funeral home. No surprise, there. Listen and learn from anybody who is willing to help. They've been there longer than you, and they know how things work.

For Teachers:
Give your students as much hands-on as possible. Put them in situations where they actually have to perform, instead of recite facts from the textbook. Not that there's anything wrong with being well-prepared, as the National Board can be quite a challenge, but nothing beats "learning by doing." One thing I wish we had done at school was to sit down and role-play at making arrangements, complete with price lists, coordinating with churches, clergy, and cemeteries, even how to approach the subject of payment. And don't just make it a smooth, easy arrangement. Introduce schedule conflicts, such as two families wanting to use your chapel the same day and same time, or other such issues. One example from this Easter; the Catholic churches in our town were not allowing Mass the Thursday and Friday prior to Easter Sunday. These are very real things your students will have to deal with one day. I know every funeral home does things differently, but anything you can have them do will be to their benefit.