Embalmers
Overview
Salary
Demand
Core Tasks
Technology Skills
Tools Used
Top 10 Knowledge Required
Top 10 Skills
Top 10 Abilities
Top 10 Work Activities
Detailed Work Activities
Work Context
Education
Majors
Interests
Top 10 Work Styles
Work Values
Related Careers
Overview
Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Experience
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
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Job Training
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.
Examples
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, travel guides, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters, and medical assistants.
Prepare bodies for interment in conformity with legal requirements.
Salary Salary
Salary at 10th Percentile: $27K
Salary at 25th Percentile: $37K
Median Salary: $47K
Salary at 75th Percentile: $59K
Salary at 90th Percentile: $75K
Demand
Core Tasks
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.
Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
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.
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.
Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.
Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.
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.
Serve as pallbearers, attend visiting rooms, and provide other assistance to the bereaved.
Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.
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.
Technology Skills
Technology
Example
Hot Technology
Tools Used
Tool
Example
Top 10 Knowledge Required
Customer and Personal Service
94%
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
73%
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
72%
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
70%
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Law and Government
68%
Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Biology
65%
Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Administration and Management
64%
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Clerical
63%
Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
Philosophy and Theology
62%
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.
Education and Training
60%
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Top 10 Skills
Speaking
78%
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening
75%
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.
Critical Thinking
63%
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Service Orientation
63%
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness
63%
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Time Management
63%
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Writing
63%
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning
60%
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Coordination
60%
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Judgment and Decision Making
60%
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Top 10 Abilities
Near Vision
80%
The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension
73%
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity
73%
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
68%
The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Oral Expression
68%
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Recognition
68%
The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Deductive Reasoning
65%
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Information Ordering
65%
The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speech Clarity
65%
The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Inductive Reasoning
63%
The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Top 10 Work Activities
Assisting and Caring for Others
91%
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
Documenting/Recording Information
89%
Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
Handling and Moving Objects
86%
Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
86%
Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Getting Information
84%
Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
81%
Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
80%
Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
79%
Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Processing Information
79%
Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
78%
Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Detailed Work Activities
Monitor operations to ensure compliance with safety or security policies or regulations.
Apply makeup to alter or enhance appearance.
Embalm corpses.
Clean work areas.
Clean facilities or equipment.
Apply decorative or textured finishes or coverings.
Transport biological or other medical materials.
Direct funeral or mortuary activities.
Collect information from people through observation, interviews, or surveys.
Handle caskets.
Maintain client information or service records.
Apply cleansing or conditioning agents to client hair, scalp, or skin.
Supervise service workers.
Arrange items for use or display.
Perform basic equipment maintenance.
Testify at legal or legislative proceedings.
Assist practitioners to perform medical procedures.
File documents or records.
Work Context
Face-to-Face Discussions
How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
Telephone
How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?
Coordinate or Lead Others
How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job?
Time Pressure
How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines?
Deal With External Customers
How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?
Frequency of Decision Making
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?
Electronic Mail
How often do you use electronic mail in this job?
Contact With Others
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?
Education
Interests
Realistic
96%
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.
Conventional
67%
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.
Investigative
58%
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.
Enterprising
48%
Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Social
43%
Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Artistic
19%
Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
Top 10 Work Styles
Dependability
94%
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Integrity
94%
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Attention to Detail
93%
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Self Control
93%
Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Concern for Others
92%
Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Stress Tolerance
89%
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Cooperation
87%
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Persistence
86%
Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Social Orientation
83%
Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Initiative
81%
Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Work Values
Independence
77%
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Support
77%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Relationships
72%
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.
Working Conditions
62%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
Achievement
53%
Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Recognition
39%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status.
