Funeral Attendant

You're the entry point into the funeral industry, and yes, it's exactly as weird as you'd expect for a first job. You set up chairs, arrange flowers, greet grieving families, carry caskets, and occasionally help prepare the deceased — which is a sentence you never thought you'd say at a job interview. The pay is modest, the hours are unpredictable, and your friends will absolutely make uncomfortable jokes about where you work. But you're providing a service at the most vulnerable moment of people's lives, and that matters more than most jobs ever will.

What you'll actually do

• 01Set up the viewing room — chairs, flowers, guest book, tissues (so many tissues)
• 02Greet families and guests with composure even when they're falling apart
• 03Assist with transporting the deceased, which never stops feeling surreal
• 04Help maintain the facility — because funeral homes need to be spotless, always
• 05Drive the hearse or flower car to the cemetery and try not to think about it too hard
• 06Learn the trade from licensed directors who have stories that would haunt a horror novelist