Funeral Arranger Review

I take calls from bereaved families and help arrange the funeral. I do day to day admin, cleaning and walk-ins. I sell funeral plans. I take care of the deceased and their families. I answer the phone and deal with emails and requests. I am a lone worker mostly, so have associated responsibilities, opening/closing the office.

Everything I do in my job has been learnt over the last 18 months, as prior to that I was a Store Manager in Food retail. A lot of learning initially was e-learning and I allocated myself additional training so I had an awareness of other aspects of the business. Attended a dementia awareness course (self allocated)

My trainer is excellent, I have a great relationship with her and can talk openly and honestly. The other trainers I have met on workshops are really good too, very passionate and engaging. We are mostly doing meetings via teams, and there is a good mix of people and personalities, although I prefer face to face. I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would, I think I was overthinking it.

Extremely well structured, I know what to expect all throughout my apprenticeship, and roughly how long it will take. I know what is expected of me and when. Like I mentioned previously I have a great relationship with my trainer and can talk to her about anything. Any support I need I know is there, from her and from my manager and colleagues who have already done their apprenticeship.

I have amazing support from my manager, mentor and my colleagues who have completed their apprenticeship. I know if I had issues I can approach any of them for guidance

I haven't really had much interaction with the training provider, other than the actual coursework. i do feel if I had any issues I could reach out

Because the course is very structured, and in bite size chunks, it is giving me the chance to learn something and then put it into practice. I absolutely feel I am learning so much about my job and also what the back of house etc team do

Nothing official, however the occasional night out happens, usually around the christmas time where everyone is invited. If there is something special like a baby shower, there is an email sent round to invite everyone. The Coop is heavily into community activities, and it is encouraged to get involved. When I am not working, I take advantage of having every weekend off and spend it with my family. Having worked weekends and 6 am starts for about 30 years, I really appreciate a monday to friday 9-5 job.

Yes

I have worked for the Coop since 1986, mostly as a food store manager, and came over to funeralcare august 2020. I completely agree with their ethics and what they stand for. I can honestly say I absolutely love my job and it is so rewarding

Just be yourself. I didn't enjoy the interview process as normally I am the one doing the interviewing! The induction and support I have had has been great. I was buddied up with a couple of colleagues and encouraged to ring them, even if it was for a chat. The experiences I have shared with clients has been amazing, and I love the fact that I am helping people when they are at their most vulnerable. It is a very rewarding job, when a client says thank you. I have gained so much confidence since I started doing this job. My first day was a bit different, as I was shown a deceased, just to make sure I could handle it. I think this is the right decision, however no-one warned me about the very strange dreams I would have!!!