Funeral arranger Review

I answer phone calls, work with the Funeral directors and my fellow colleagues to provide the best service we can for the families that trust us to take care of their loved ones. I order flowers, catering, order of service sheets and anything else needed to make the funeral the best experience it can be given the situation.

I have broadened my knowledge quite considerably since starting the course. It has made me look into various other cultures and rites that are generally not in the day to day practice I get. So it has been useful for me to widen my scope of religious and cultural traditions that I may come across in the future.

I really enjoy finding out the diversity that can come into play in my industry. I have realised that while what we do is our normal thing it is not the same for my colleagues who work in Sheffield, not very far away , but have a large jewish community and very different requirement for their funerals.

I do find that I have to chase up workbooks that should have been sent through for me to work from. I have also struggled to find the time to dedicate to completing the course as I tend to be in very busy branches. To this end I have had to reschedule some appointments and am somewhat behind.

I am not really getting any support from my employers, however this is because the business is running too lean where staff are concerned. I am sent to cover when they are busy so naturally that doesn't leave me any time to make progress on my modules. I know it's just how things are and they would like to give me the time to keep up to date.

Very little contact if any from one meeting point to the next and it can take quite a long time to get a response. Overall though she does go through all my work and make suggestions on where I can find more information and how to think of more examples in certain areas of my work.

It has broadened my knowledge by making me look into things that I haven't yet come across personally in my role. I have had to research many different topics and by so doing I have encountered other things that I would not have come across naturally in day to day tasks.

Staff at branches are encouraged to take part in community events in their local area. So this may involve going to retirement communities with a "memory box" to engage with the elderly or going to schools to promote the idea of visiting nursing homes and talking to the residents about their lives and memories.

Yes

They really try as a company to get the best out of their staff so that the families get the absolute best service they can. I do feel valued as a member of staff by both my colleagues and the management team. They may not always succeed but they try to work and live to a high set of moral values which is to be commended.

Be honest, fair and be prepared to work hard. It's a huge learning curve and not something to go into lightly but the job satisfaction is truly vast. You need to be a team player and clear communication is vital to ensure everyone knows what stage they are at and nothing gets missed. It is a wonderfully satisfying job with daily challenges but worth it.