Korean Job Discussion Forums

[richardlang]

In recession economy, students look to funeral careers

BY KARLA SCHUSTER

[email protected]

9:06 PM EDT, March 12, 2009

If nothing is certain but death and taxes, then funeral service may be the closest thing to a recession-proof career in these uncertain times.

Nowhere is that more evident than mortuary science programs like the one at Nassau Community College, where interest and applications have mounted as the economy contracts.

At Nassau, which offers the only such public program in the metropolitan area, inquiries about mortuary science are up 15 percent in recent months, and enrollment for last fall's class was nearly double the year before.

At the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Education, a private program in Manhattan, enrollment has jumped to 270 students for the spring semester, compared with 200 a year ago. The school attributes the rise to the economic downturn and the addition of an online program.

"They're looking for something stable, a career that will last them," said Michael Mastellone, chairman of the Nassau program. "And there will always be work out there."

Among the recent inquiries Mastellone fielded was one from a retired police officer who at 57 wondered whether there was an age limit to start the two-year program.

"He retired and his pension was fine, and now his retirement fund isn't fine anymore," Mastellone said.

He said that about 80 percent of the program's graduates are employed in the funeral service industry. Graduates can earn about $50,000 a year by the time they complete a yearlong residency at a funeral home, he said.

The demographics don't hurt, either.

"I sometimes see a twinkle in the eye of some particularly entrepreneurial students . . . as they imagine what their future will be like with the aging of baby boomers," said Regina Smith, dean of the McCallister Institute in Manhattan, in an e-mail.

What's more, funeral directors are, on average, older than workers in most other occupations, which means they will be retiring in greater numbers over the next decade, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report.

"I think we have an extremely unique career," said John Madigan, 20, of Hicksville, a second-year student at Nassau. "Not many people can do it.

"A lot of the kids I graduated from high school with . . . now they're worried about whether they'll find a job. I'm still on track."

Nassau has an enrollment of 107 students, including part-timers - an increase of nearly 20 percent over this time in 2008. The fall 2008 class was about 50 students, twice what the school normally enrolls.

The program has attracted an eclectic mix of fresh-out-of-high-school students and second careerists, who shrug off stereotypes that the profession is ghoulish or maudlin.

"I get a lot of, 'Are you sure you want to do that?' " said Arielle Gallo, 22, a second-year student from Holbrook. She was inspired by the funeral director who handled the funerals of her grandparents, who died within two months of each other when she was in high school. "It's not really about hanging around deceased people. It's about caring for the families."

For Matthew Bennett, 37, getting laid off from his job as a personal assistant was the catalyst for pursuing a career he had always wondered about.

"Losing my job gave me that push," said Bennett, a second-year student who also lives in Holbrook. "I was in a good position to go to school full-time - and it's a good job."

Copyright � 2009, Newsday Inc.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-lidead1212538312mar13,0,1428019.story

[semi-fly]

Makes sense there will always be dead people to tend to. A career in health care is another recession proof career.

[pkang0202]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Someone asked, "Who took the 'fun' out of funerals?" I think that is a fair question.

[Robot_Teacher]

I don't guess the funeral career offers much vacation as the those dying off don't ever take vacation or take a break from dying off. It's a busy business you know and you won't be out of work as it's consistent work with a few extra busy times and few slow times, especially if you're in a small town where everyone are old!

[Ya-ta Boy]

Have you ever seen the statistics on necrophilia? It isn't pretty, although the 'victims' usually are. 'Victims' is in quotes because I'm not sure the dead can be victims.

[Robot_Teacher]

Gross! I just learned a new word I didn't enjoy learning. I guess many occupations carry a dark cloud of everyone wondering if you entered for some 'philia reason. Gawd, that's awful.

[pkang0202]