What You'll Do

  • 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.
  • Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.
  • Close incisions, using needles and sutures.
  • Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.
  • Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.
  • Dress bodies and place them in caskets.
  • Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.
  • Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.
  • 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.

Essential Skills

Speaking 3.88/5
Active Listening 3.75/5
Writing 3.12/5
Critical Thinking 3.12/5
Social Perceptiveness 3.12/5
Service Orientation 3.12/5
Time Management 3.12/5
Reading Comprehension 3.0/5
Active Learning 3.0/5
Monitoring 3.0/5
Coordination 3.0/5
Judgment and Decision Making 3.0/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.
  • Helper: Supporting people and making a difference matters to you.

Common styles

Attention to Detail, Dependability, Integrity, Stress Tolerance, Self-Control

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Near Vision 4.0/5
Oral Comprehension 3.62/5
Problem Sensitivity 3.62/5
Oral Expression 3.38/5
Arm-Hand Steadiness 3.38/5
Speech Recognition 3.38/5
Deductive Reasoning 3.25/5
Information Ordering 3.25/5

Technologies & Tools

Belmar & Associates Mortware Corel WordPerfect Office Suite Custom Data Systems Sterling Management Software FPA Software MACCS HMIS Advantage Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft Word Twin Tier Technologies MIMS Web browser software

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.85/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.73/5)
  • Integrity (High importance: 4.4/5)
  • Stress Tolerance (High importance: 4.37/5)
  • Self-Control (High importance: 4.35/5)

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How to Become One

This career typically requires vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some specialized training or certification may also be required.

Similar Careers to Explore

Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Anatomical Embalmer Arterial Embalmer Embalmer Funeral Embalmer Funeral Services Embalmer Licensed Embalmer Restorative Art Embalmer Trade Embalmer

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.