Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Directors
On the Job
Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Directors perform several duties to arrange and direct funerals. They coordinate the transportation of the body to the mortuary, work with families to arrange details, and provide transportation to mourners.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Gather information in order to provide services to clients.
- Maintain financial or account records.
- Provide counsel, comfort, or encouragement to individuals or families.
- Discuss service options or needs with clients.
- Arrange facility schedules.
- Train service staff.
- Direct funeral or mortuary activities.
- Supervise service workers.
- Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
- Promote products, services, or programs.
Typical Working Conditions
- Having telephone conversations.
- The importance of being accurate or exact.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Dealing with external customers.
- Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
- Exposure to disease or infections.
- Exposure to contaminants (like gases or odors).
- Wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats, or life jackets.
- Responsibility for outcomes and results.

This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.