Funeral arranger Review

I am a funeral arranger in a co-op funeralcare branch based in Scarborough. My job role is very client focused, ensuring the service we provide to our customer exceed their expectations. By myself and my colleague work extremely well alongside each other and together we also organise community events to involve not only our clients but the whole community. We are compassionate and empathetic toward all our clients wether they have been recently bereaved or not. Tackling loneliness is something close to both of our hearts, so by bringing people together and making them smile makes our day.

Yes. I have learnt have to prepare a deceased ready for the family to come to pay their last respects to them. I feel I have become more organised as a result of the apprenticeship, as it has been a good few years since leaving college and had to study!

I had a great relationship with my mentor/assessor. Communication was excellent. She always followed up any queries I had and reassured me at times of assessments, including exams at the end. I also enjoyed the extra units we could choose too. Purely because I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experience different job roles of my colleagues around me. Therefore, because of this I feel I have a better understanding of what other job roles within the funeral industry do.

It was clearly mapped out right from the very beginning. Even though we originally started with learn direct, the programme didn’t change for us that was already part way through the course. Which I appreciated. I think I benefited from the 1-2-1 time with my mentor as we could cover larger area during a session.

At times this was a little frustrating and disappointing. However, I did what I needed to do for the course requirements in the end, but opportunities were few and far between. Maybe this was due to busy times but towards completion it was proving difficult to fit the last 20% course requirement in.

My mentor was fantastic. Always on the other end of the phone when I needed her. No question to silly!!!! Always has a brief prior to interview recordings etc and debrief after observations. I was a little anxious about taking my level 2 maths and My mentor was amazing. She understood the way that I worked/took in information and realised bksk really wasn’t doing anything for me. So she got me to do a lot of mock test papers and I passed first time.

I think I do my job really well but the apprenticeship made me look into depths regarding policies, ways of working, all the ‘small print ‘ of the products and services we provide, which in turn has made me more knowledgeable about my role and what we provide to our clients.

Here at Co-op we are actively encouraged on a weekly basis to get involved with our communities. Wether it be a coffee morning, bereavement groups or meeting with other charitable organisations to collaborate on various events. Past event have included having stalls at various fairs and fetes in the area, and my face painting skills are put to good use!!

Yes

Since leaving the RAF I have held a lot of different job roles from working in a school to being manager of a care home. By far, working within the funeralcare industry is the most rewarding job I have ever done. I enjoy coming to work, even on the quiet days.

Just go for it. I can only speak for the funeralcare sector of co-op. But I do know a few people who work in the food store and member pioneers and we all have the same view. And that is we’re all one Co-op doing what’s right by you.