Alternative Title: It’s Time To Get Over Yourself!

Funeral Industry News July 23, 2013
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Alternative Title: It’s Time To Get Over Yourself!

Source:  FuneralHomeConsulting.org

Not long ago I was part of a group studying the challenges of recruitment in the funeral profession. I was stunned to hear the “table talk” of practicing funeral directors.

Our conversations centered around why people wouldn’t want to be funeral directors…the long and unpredictable work hours, the low pay. Worst of all, and a major factor making recruitment difficult, was having to work with dead bodies. I finally felt compelled to speak up:

“What I am hearing you saying,” I told the group, “is that if it weren’t for the abysmal working conditions and those darn bodies this would be a pretty good job.”

What I was really thinking was: “how can you expect people to want to work in this profession if all you talk about is the unpleasant stuff?” The reason this is so vivid for me is that I don’t agree with the low pay / long hours part and I don’t know any career funeral directors who function as professionals that do this job for the money. For my career of more than 30 years it has been my observation that the successful ones do it for the psychic rewards as much as and probably more than the monetary rewards.

The Canadian Funeral Directors Associations published this video recently. View it. Hopefully, you will be inspired as I was. Hopefully, it will remind you why you are here. And, hopefully you will ask yourself what is significant about what I do?

Thank You Canada!!

As for the abysmal working conditions: I am a CPA. How would you like to conduct an inventory audit in a frozen food plant? What do you think it is like for accountant’s families during tax season? How would you like to be assigned to reconcile accounts and prove veracity on financial statements? BORING, COLD, SMELLY AND TEDIOUS are all words that come to mind.