Funeral director
Help bereaved families with the arrangements for funerals. Give people advice and support at a distressing time.
About the job
What it's like
You would help bereaved families with the arrangements for funerals. You’d give people advice and support at a distressing time.
You’d talk with the family of the deceased person, make the funeral arrangements and help them complete the legal requirements for the burial or cremation. You’d need to be able to deal sensitively with people who are distressed.
You’d arrange for the body of the deceased to be kept at your funeral home or another location – the place of rest – before the funeral.
You would:
Take details from relatives or friends of the deceased
Transfer the body to the place of rest before the funeral
Give advice and arrange details of the funeral
Arrange the date and time of the funeral with the church, cemetery or crematorium
Organise flowers, transport and death notices in the newspapers
Advise on legal requirements and help people complete the paperwork
Prepare the body for burial or cremation
Arrange for friends and relatives to visit the place of rest
Receive floral tributes and donations to charity
Advise on types of memorials, such as headstones
You would travel in the hearse to the funeral and make sure that everything runs smoothly during the ceremony.
You may also give people advice about coroners' procedures if necessary.
Hours
Your working hours would vary, and you could be on a rota system. Most of your administration work would be done during office hours, but you would often need to visit clients in the evenings or at weekends. You would be on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Environment
Attending funerals involves being outdoors in all weather conditions.
Travel
In some jobs you may have to drive vehicles to transport the deceased.
Explore more information about this job
Here are some useful links to learn more about this career:
Other careers that you might like
Cemetery worker Crematorium technician
Related industries
Many jobs can be done in lots of different industries. We've highlighted the ones we think are most important for this job.
Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Top specialised skills
These are the top specialised skills that have been found in job vacancies across Scotland. From March 2024 to March 2025.
- funeral planning
- key performance indicators (kpis)
- commercial focus
- funeral arrangements
- ambulances
- talent recruitment
- employee onboarding
- funeral services
- community outreach
- dry cleaning
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- empathising
- supporting
- written communication
- verbal communication
- listening
- attention to detail
- developing a plan
- time management
- ethical
- positive attitude
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Care
Human Biology
The normal route is to enter the industry as a funeral service operative. You may start as a funeral service arranger and administrator then progress while on the job.
There are no set qualifications to become an operative, however some employers prefer entrants to have some National 4/5 qualifications (SCQF level 4/5).
A full clean driving licence.
National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) offers an online course in Funeral Service Awareness which leads to the Certificate of Training.
Once in the job you may be able to take a NAFD National Certificate in Funeral Arranging and Administration.
To be physically fit.
Find the right course for you
Browse courses in Scotland related to 'Funeral director'
