Interview Questions to Ask a Funeral Director
These 51 questions are for the owner or manager on the hiring side of the desk: you are filling a funeral director's job, not arranging a funeral. They follow the order such an interview tends to take: the candidate's license and working history, how they sit with a family in an arrangement, prices and compliance, care of the dead and the on-call nights, then mistakes, composure and whether they suit your home. Licensing, price disclosure and cremation paperwork are governed locally, so judge those answers by the rules of your own state or country.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
License and path
What made you choose funeral service, and what has kept you in it?
Why ask it
The first half is often a story about a death in the family or a director who impressed them, and it is usually sincere. The second half matters more to you: people who stay tend to name something in the daily work, such as the families or the craft, and that will still be there in year five.
Which licenses do you hold, where were they issued, and are they all current?
Why ask it
Ask for the license numbers and confirm them with the board yourself before any offer. Rules on single and dual licenses, transfers and continuing education differ from place to place, so ask your own board what a candidate licensed elsewhere needs before they can sign anything for you.
Walk me through your last position: how many calls a year did the home take, and which parts of each one were yours?
Why ask it
The title tells you little, because homes divide the work so differently. A director from a high-volume firm may never have made a removal or stood in the prep room, and one from a small home may have done everything down to washing the hearse. Hold the answer up against how your own home splits the job.
What kinds of service have you directed most often, and which have you rarely or never handled?
Why ask it
Listen for the things your community asks for: particular religious rites, military honors, cremation with a memorial later, graveside only, natural burial. An honest 'never' is worth more than 'all kinds', since it tells you what to pair them on in the first months.
What would have to be different here from the home you are leaving?
Why ask it
Directors move over the call schedule, pay, sales targets set by a head office, or an owner who never handed over real responsibility. Whichever they name, say plainly how your home compares. Someone leaving over every-other-night call will leave you over it too.
Have you ever had a complaint made to a licensing board, and how was it resolved?
Why ask it
Where board records are public, read them before the interview and ask about what you find. A complaint that was answered and closed, and told without heat, need not count against anyone in a trade where people arrive upset. Check with whoever advises you on hiring what you may ask about a candidate's record where you operate.
Which case management software and which death certificate filing system have you worked in?
Why ask it
The product names matter less than whether they filed their own certificates and permits or passed them to an office manager. Ask what usually holds a certificate up and how they chase it, because that delay is the one families phone about.
Have you trained an apprentice or overseen part-time attendants? What did you hand over to them, and what did you keep for yourself?
Why ask it
What an apprentice, intern or unlicensed assistant may do is laid down by the licensing rules where you are, so the split they describe may not be one you could copy. The part that travels is how they checked the work they gave away. If they have only ever been the one supervised, ask what their own supervisor got right.
Where do you want to be in five years: arranging, embalming, managing or owning?
Why ask it
A one-owner home with no succession plan hears 'owning' differently from a group with a manager track. None of the four is a wrong answer. Say which of those futures your firm can really offer, so nobody finds out in year two.
Arrangements
Take me through how you run an arrangement conference, from the moment the family sits down.
Why ask it
Hear the order: whether they begin with the person who died or with the paperwork, when prices come into it, and how they close. If the reply is 'it depends on the family' and nothing more, ask them to describe the last one they ran instead.
A family arrives with no idea what they want. How do you find out without steering them to the most expensive option?
Why ask it
Good answers are made of questions about the person: what they did with their days, who will come, which funerals the family has attended and disliked. Notice whether the options appear after those questions or before them.
Two siblings disagree in front of you about burial or cremation. What do you do?
Why ask it
There are two things to hear. One is manner: slowing down, giving each a turn, offering a break. The other is the rule, because who has the right to decide is set by law where you are, and a director should establish that before anything that cannot be undone is authorized.
How does your approach change when the death was sudden or the person was young?
Why ask it
You are listening for changes in pace and wording, not a speech about compassion: fewer decisions in the first meeting, more quiet, care over who sees what and when. Give them time with this one, and do not press for detail about a particular family.
Tell me about a family whose faith or customs were new to you. How did you prepare?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for involves asking: the family themselves, their clergy or an elder, a colleague who had done it before. Guessing and getting through is the weaker version. If your home serves a particular community, name it and find out what they know of its rites.
A family wants something you have never been asked for, such as a service in a barn or a motorcycle beside the casket. What is your first reaction?
Why ask it
Some directors light up at this and some reach for reasons it cannot be done. Both instincts are useful, but the first words tell you which one a family would meet. Follow with what they would need to check before saying yes.
What have you arranged for relatives who could not travel to the service?
Why ask it
A livestream, a recording sent afterwards, a second gathering in another town and a phone held up at the graveside all count. Ask who got the family's agreement and the venue's before a camera went up, and what the fallback was when the connection dropped.
How do you help a family with an obituary or a eulogy when they tell you they have nothing to say?
Why ask it
This is craft that appears on no license. Directors who are good at it carry prompts of their own, such as asking what was always in the person's car or what they did on a free Saturday. Ask for one they use.
What do you do in the half hour before a service starts?
Why ask it
People who run a tidy service answer with a list: flowers placed, register book out, music cued, pallbearers briefed, the officiant's name and the pronunciation checked, the family seen privately first. A one-line answer may mean somebody else always did the checking.
Tell me about the angriest family member you have dealt with. What had gone wrong, and what did you say?
Why ask it
Anyone who has arranged funerals for a few years has one of these. Hear whether they can tell the complaint that was fair from the part that was grief, and whether they put the fair part right without arguing about the other.
What contact do you have with a family once the service is over?
Why ask it
Practice runs from none at all to a phone call the following week, certificates delivered by hand, or an invitation to a remembrance evening. If your home does more than they are used to, find out now whether that reads to them as care or as extra work.
Prices and rules
When and how do you bring out the price list during an arrangement?
Why ask it
Price disclosure by funeral homes is regulated in many places, and timing is usually part of the rule. A candidate should be able to say what they hand over, at what point, and why. If you are unsure what applies to your home, settle that with your regulator or trade association before you grade the answer.
A family says the total is more than they can pay. What do you say next?
Why ask it
The best directors go straight to what matters most to this family and rebuild the arrangement around it, without making anyone feel poor. Two failures to watch for: discounting on the spot with no authority to do it, and a change of tone as they turn to the cheapest line on the list.
How do you feel about sales targets or commission on merchandise and prearranged funerals?
Why ask it
Ask it whichever way your home pays, and say how it pays. Someone who left a firm over quotas will not last under yours, and someone used to commission may read a flat salary as a cut. The telling part is how they describe mentioning a better casket without pushing it.
A family asks whether embalming, a vault or a particular casket is required. How do you answer?
Why ask it
What the law requires, what the cemetery requires and what your own home requires are three separate things, and all three vary by place. You want the habit of saying which of them is speaking, and of saying 'let me check' before guessing. Compare the legal detail with your own compliance guidance, not with memory.
Which documents do you make sure are signed and in the file before a cremation goes ahead?
Why ask it
Authorizations, permits, waiting periods and identification steps are set locally, so their list may differ from yours. The attitude is what carries over: a director who treats the cremation file as the one that has to be perfect, and who can tell you about one they stopped because a signature was missing.
How do you confirm identity at each step from the place of death to the grave or the crematory?
Why ask it
Expect a chain: a band or tag applied at the removal, checked against the paperwork at every handover, checked again before dressing, casketing and cremation, with a second person at the points that cannot be reversed. Of everything on this list, a vague reply here is the one to treat as disqualifying until explained.
What experience do you have with prearranged funerals, and how was the money held at your last firm?
Why ask it
Writing prepaid plans can need its own license or registration, and the rules on trusts and insurance vary widely, so ask how it works in your state or country. A candidate who can explain where the funds sat and what the buyer had been promised has done the work. One who only 'took the meetings' will need training before writing a plan for you.
Tell me about an error you found in a death certificate, a permit or a contract. When did you catch it?
Why ask it
The usual ones are small: a misspelled maiden name, a wrong date, a line left unsigned. In the good versions it was caught before filing or before the service, and they can name the check that found it. Ask what changed in their routine afterwards.
What have you been asked to do in this work that you refused, or would refuse?
Why ask it
It might be backdating a form, going ahead without the right authorization, or telling a family something was required when it was not. You learn where their line sits and whether they would bring a worry to you first. Be ready to answer it yourself: a good candidate is measuring your home against the same line.
Care and call
How many embalmings have you done yourself, and when was the most recent?
Why ask it
A count from mortuary school and a count from last month are different things, and some licensed directors have not embalmed in years. If the job includes the prep room, say how many cases a week. If it does not, find out whether they would mind letting the skill go.
Tell me about a difficult preparation where the family hoped for a viewing. What did you tell them beforehand?
Why ask it
Technique matters, and so does the conversation: a careful embalmer is honest with the family about what will be possible before they walk into the room. If you embalm, add one technical follow-up of your own. If you do not, have your embalmer sit in for this part of the interview.
Which safety habits do you keep in the preparation room that you would insist on from a colleague?
Why ask it
Protective equipment, ventilation, sharps and chemical handling fall under workplace rules that differ by place, so compare what you hear with your own written procedures. The good sign is habits named without prompting, and a willingness to speak up when the person at the next table skips one.
How do you treat the person in your care when nobody else is in the room?
Why ask it
There is no technical answer, which is the reason to ask. People who take the work seriously tend to mention small things: keeping the person covered, using their name, allowing no jokes at the table. A flippant reply here should weigh more than a strong resume.
Walk me through a home removal at three in the morning, from the phone call to leaving the house.
Why ask it
The detail is the test: what they wear, what they ask on the phone, whether the family is offered time first and a choice about staying in the room, how they manage a staircase with one partner. A removal is the first thing a household sees of your firm.
What on-call schedule have you worked, and what can you realistically commit to now?
Why ask it
Give your real rota before they answer, weekends and holidays included, and how close to the building they would need to live. The call schedule is one of the things directors leave homes over, so a hesitant yes calls for a second conversation and not an offer made on hope.
The phone rings twice in an hour on a night when you are the only one on call. What do you do?
Why ask it
This tests triage and the willingness to wake somebody. A sound answer starts by asking where each death happened, since a family waiting at home and a hospital with its own holding room are not equally urgent, and names who they would ring for help. Then tell them what backup your home actually has.
What do you say on a first call when the family is phoning minutes after the death?
Why ask it
Ask for the actual words. You should hear a slow voice, the name of the person who died asked for and then used, only the questions that are needed tonight, and a plain statement of who is coming and when. A script delivered at speed is the thing to mark down.
A hospital, a hospice nurse or the coroner or medical examiner's office is holding up a release, and the family keeps phoning. What do you do?
Why ask it
Who may release a person into your care, and on whose signature, depends on where you are and how the death happened, so the steps will be local. Relationships are what carry over: a director who knows the night staff by name gets the call returned. Notice too what they tell the family in the meantime, because a wait that is nobody's fault still has to be explained kindly.
This job means lifting, stairs, long services on your feet and driving the hearse and the removal vehicle. What would you want to know about how we handle those?
Why ask it
Describe the demands and let the candidate respond. How you may ask about physical ability or health when hiring is governed by employment law where you are, so take advice on your wording. Their questions back, about lifting equipment or a second person on removals, tell you how they have worked before.
Pressure
Tell me about a mistake of yours that a family noticed. What did you do in the next hour?
Why ask it
The wrong music, a name misspelled in the folder, flowers left behind, a hearse that ran late: a funeral cannot be run again, so recovery is the skill. In the strong version they told the family themselves and at once, and told the owner before the owner heard it from anyone else.
Tell me about a near miss that no family ever found out about. Who did you tell?
Why ask it
Harder to answer than a mistake that was seen, because nothing forced them to own up. An owner needs staff who report the one caught at the door as readily as the one that reached a family. If nothing comes to mind, ask about a near miss they watched a colleague catch.
Describe a day when two services, a removal and an arrangement all landed at once. What gave?
Why ask it
Something always gives, and you want to know it was chosen and did not simply happen. Hear what they handed off, whom they phoned to move a time, and which task they refused to hurry. That last choice shows their priorities better than any stated value.
What do you do when a service gets to you and you still have to finish it?
Why ask it
Nobody expects a director to feel nothing, and a family is seldom offended by one who is visibly moved. What you are checking is that the work carries on: a minute outside, a task passed to a colleague, the committal finished. Be wary of 'it never affects me', and equally of no method at all.
How do you look after yourself in this work, and how would I know if you were running low?
Why ask it
The second half is the one to listen to. People who have lasted in funeral service can usually name their own warning signs, such as getting short with staff or dreading the phone. Asking it also tells the candidate that you intend to notice.
Have you arranged or directed a funeral for someone you knew? How did you decide whether to take it?
Why ask it
In a small town this comes with the job. Some directors want to be the one who does it and some ask a colleague to step in, and either is sound when it is decided on purpose. You see how they hold the line between neighbor and professional.
Fit
How involved do you expect to be in the community outside working hours?
Why ask it
Some homes are built on the owner's seat at the service club and the church supper and expect the same of their directors. Others never ask for it. If yours is the first kind, name the evenings it takes, and ask a candidate new to the area how they would go about getting known.
Someone stops you in the grocery store and asks how a neighbor died. What do you say?
Why ask it
Everyone in a small town knows where the director works, and the question comes sooner than new directors expect. A practiced answer is kind, short and gives nothing away, including whether the family has been in at all. Follow with how they handle the same curiosity at home and on social media.
Which parts of the job, if any, do you think a licensed director should not be asked to do?
Why ask it
In a small home the director also washes the cars, sets out chairs, vacuums the chapel and parks the mourners. Anyone who has worked in one will laugh and add to the list. A pause from someone coming out of a large firm is your cue to describe an ordinary Tuesday in detail.
How do you work with an owner whose name is on the sign and who has done things one way for thirty years?
Why ask it
Ask it with a smile if that is you. A family firm needs directors who can propose a change without turning it into a contest, and who can live with being told no. An example from a past employer is worth more here than a statement of principle.
Who could I call about your work: an owner you have worked for, a member of the clergy and someone from the prep room?
Why ask it
Three kinds of reference see three different things: reliability, manner with families, and the standard of work when no family is watching. Funeral service is a small world, so get the candidate's permission before phoning anyone at the home where they work now.
What do you want to ask me about how we run this home?
Why ask it
Prepared candidates ask about the rota, case volume, who embalms, how prices are set and whether you plan to sell. Answer straight, including the parts you are not proud of. No questions at all from someone about to be trusted with your families is itself an answer.
How to interview a funeral director candidate
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the candidate arrives
Write down what the job is at your home
List the facts a candidate cannot guess: calls a year, whether the director embalms, who makes removals, how many nights and weekends on call, and whether prearranged funerals are part of the role. Two homes can advertise the same title and mean very different work, and most of the questions under License and path only make sense once you know your own answer.
Confirm the license before you spend the hour
Look the candidate up with the licensing board that issued the license, and if they trained somewhere else, ask your own board what a transfer involves and how long it takes. It is better to learn about a gap in the week before the interview than in the week after an offer.
Decide who else should hear the answers
If you no longer embalm, your embalmer is the right judge of the first three questions under Care and call. An office manager who files the certificates will hear things in the Prices and rules answers that you might miss. Bring them in for that part and let them ask a follow-up.
Take a dozen questions, not the whole list
An interview of an hour or so has room for twelve to fifteen questions with follow-ups. Choose two or three from each of the six groups, weighted toward wherever this candidate's history is thinnest, and keep the rest for a second meeting.
In the room and around the building
Ask for the words, not the policy
The first call, the price list and the family who cannot afford the total are all moments made of sentences. 'What exactly would you say?' gets you those sentences. For one of them, play the family yourself for two minutes and see how the candidate speaks to you.
Walk them through the home
Show the chapel, the arrangement room, the garage and the preparation room. What a candidate notices and asks about, whether it is the lift, the ventilation or the tissue boxes, tells you where their attention goes at work. It also gives them an honest look at what they would be working with.
Describe the hard weeks plainly
Say what the busiest stretch of last winter was like, how often the phone rang at night and who covered. A candidate who accepts after hearing that is likelier to stay than one who was shown only the quiet version of the job.
Let the quiet stand
Much of this work is sitting with people who are not ready to speak. After a heavy question, such as the ones on a sudden death or on being affected during a service, wait. How a candidate uses a silence, and whether they can bear one, is part of the answer.
Weighing what you heard
Sort what can be taught from what cannot
Your software, your price list and your local forms can be learned in a few weeks by anyone careful. Manner with a family, steadiness at three in the morning and the instinct to report a near miss are much slower to change. When two candidates are close, lean toward the second kind of strength.
Check the legal answers against your own rules
A candidate describes the law as it was where they trained and worked. Before you mark an answer on price disclosure, cremation authorization or prepaid funds as right or wrong, look at what your own regulator, board or association says, or ask them.
Ask references one precise thing
'Would you rehire them?' gets a polite yes. 'How were they on a removal with a family in the house?' or 'What did their files look like when you audited them?' gets something you can use. Match the question to the reference: an owner, a member of the clergy, a prep room colleague.
Consider a paid working day, where that is allowed
Some homes ask a finalist to shadow a service or spend a day alongside staff. Whether and how you can do that, and what a person who is not yet your employee may do with families or in the prep room, depends on employment and licensing rules where you are, so ask before you arrange it.
Where these interviews go wrong
Hiring the license
When a home is short-handed, a valid license and a free start date can look like the whole decision. The questions under Arrangements and Pressure exist because the families will meet the person, not the certificate on the wall.
Softening the call schedule
It is tempting to say the nights are 'not too bad' to a candidate you like. They will learn the truth in the first month, and a director who feels misled about the rota starts looking again. Give the numbers.
Asking for graphic detail
You can judge skill in the preparation room without inviting upsetting stories about particular people. Ask about decisions, what was said to the family and what the candidate would do differently. A candidate who volunteers lurid detail unprompted has told you something about their discretion.
Talking about the home for most of the hour
Owners are proud of their buildings and their history, and an interview can turn into a tour with commentary. Keep your own account for the walk-through and for the last question under Fit, when the candidate asks you.