Cemetery attendant to funeral services director
A cemetery attendant already meets 23% of what the funeral services director role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.
77.1/ 100
1 How much of what a funeral services director is expected to do is already part of a cemetery attendant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the funeral services director role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A funeral services director role treats 5 of its required skills as things a cemetery attendant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- administer appointments
- advise on funeral services
- greet guests
- promote human rights
- train employees
What stands in the way is 15 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 10 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A funeral services director role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a cemetery attendant background worth leading with.
- already held advise on funeral services communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide visitor information assisting and caring
- already held maintain inventory of tools information skills
- already held promote human rights communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held greet guests assisting and caring
- already held administer appointments management skills
All 10 carried skills, including the 5 the funeral services director role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 35 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn develop organisational policies required
- still to learn maintain personal hygiene standards required
- still to learn manage budgets required
- still to learn manage financial aspects of a company required
- still to learn manage staff required
- still to learn recruit employees required
- optional, not held apply business acumen optional
- optional, not held assist with funeral planning optional
- optional, not held coordinate catering optional
- optional, not held maintain professional administration optional
- optional, not held manage maintenance operations optional
- still to learn prepare ceremonial locations required
- still to learn develop professional network required
- still to learn maintain customer service required
- still to learn show diplomacy required
- optional, not held manage emergency evacuation plans optional
- optional, not held perform religious ceremonies optional
- optional, not held respond to visitor complaints optional
- still to learn provide directions to guests required
- still to learn apply health and safety standards required
- optional, not held embalm bodies optional
- optional, not held provide emotional support to the bereaved optional
- still to learn oversee cremations required
- optional, not held analyse financial performance of a company optional
- optional, not held keep personal administration optional
- still to learn business knowledge required
- optional, not held business management principles optional
- optional, not held prepare coffins for cremation optional
- optional, not held dress bodies optional
- optional, not held manage funeral equipment optional
- optional, not held transfer coffins optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a funeral services director role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 oversee cremations practise this
- 02 business knowledge study this
- 03 prepare ceremonial locations practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 10 skills that carry over
- already held administer appointments skill
- already held advise on funeral services skill
- already held greet guests skill
- already held promote human rights skill
- already held train employees skill
- already held liaise with local authorities skill
- already held maintain inventory of tools skill
- already held provide visitor information skill
- already held relate empathetically skill
- already held work ergonomically skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held operate cremation equipment optional
- optional, not held drive vehicles in processions optional
- optional, not held control minor maintenance optional
20 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held operate cremation equipment optional
- optional, not held prepare coffins for cremation optional
- optional, not held dress bodies optional
- optional, not held drive vehicles in processions optional
- optional, not held embalm bodies optional
- optional, not held manage funeral equipment optional
- optional, not held provide emotional support to the bereaved optional
- optional, not held transfer coffins optional
- optional, not held analyse financial performance of a company optional
- optional, not held apply business acumen optional
- optional, not held assist with funeral planning optional
- optional, not held business management principles optional
- optional, not held control minor maintenance optional
- optional, not held coordinate catering optional
- optional, not held keep personal administration optional
- optional, not held maintain professional administration optional
- optional, not held manage emergency evacuation plans optional
- optional, not held manage maintenance operations optional
- optional, not held perform religious ceremonies optional
- optional, not held respond to visitor complaints optional
16 held skills the funeral services director role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role affix memorial plaques skill
- not needed by the target role assist in the placement of gravestones skill
- not needed by the target role cooperate with funeral directors skill
- not needed by the target role cost management knowledge
- not needed by the target role lift heavy weights skill
- not needed by the target role maintain burial records skill
- not needed by the target role maintain plant health skill
- not needed by the target role maintain plant soil nutrition skill
- not needed by the target role maintain turf and grass skill
- not needed by the target role operate excavator skill
- not needed by the target role operate landscaping equipment skill
- not needed by the target role oversee maintenance work skill
- not needed by the target role plant according to guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role prepare graves skill
- not needed by the target role prepare planting area skill
- not needed by the target role prune plants skill
2 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn business knowledge required
- optional, not held business management principles optional
Other moves recorded from cemetery attendant
Common questions about this move
Can a cemetery attendant become a funeral services director?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A cemetery attendant already covers 23% of what a funeral services director is expected to do: 10 skills carry over, 5 of which the funeral services director role treats as required.
What skills does a cemetery attendant need to become a funeral services director?
15 required skills are missing, plus 20 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is oversee cremations.
How hard is the move from cemetery attendant to funeral services director?
Its learning distance is 77.1 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.