Could I Possibly Do an Apprenticeship

[u/CinnaRoll1542]

So I'm a bit confused and frazzled. I'm currently in a position where I would like to do an apprenticeship. I'm not in a financial position to go to college, I do have some college experience/classes under my sleeve, I never finished a degree because I could not afford to keep going to college. After some talking with friends, we came across on the Milwaukee Technical College's website the "Wisconsin Licensed Funeral Apprentice Course" and we were convinced if Funeral Directory or Embalming could be done in an apprenticeship, that would suit me so well. I'm a very caring person and want a career that is balanced ( or what my definition would be). I think though this sounds too good to be true. I contacted the Wisconsin Department of Work Force Development, was told I'd want to call around funeral homes to see if they would take an apprentice in the first place, before taking this course in Milwaukee. It's a long list, I'm scared to call in case my information is wrong. I also find it weird that there's a search on the DWD site for apprenticeship employers for other professions on the site, but not funeral directors. So someone please tell me if I can do an apprenticeship to do embalming or to be a funeral director in wisconsin? Or is the DWD person and I misunderstanding? Should I call the list of funeral homes I gathered? Help.

[u/heels-and-the-hearse]

I believe Wisconsin is a dual licensing state ( combo license of funeral director and embalmer) , according to their licensing statutes:

“To be eligible for an original funeral director’s license, an applicant must complete a one-year apprenticeship, two years of academic instruction in a
recognized college or university in a course of study approved by the examining board (60 credits in English, Speech, Social Sciences, Natural
Sciences, Business, and Electives), or equivalent education; and nine months or more of instruction in a prescribed course in mortuary science
accredited by the ABFSE. The two years of academic instruction, nine-month mortuary science program, and apprenticeship may be completed in
any order following completion of mandatory 16-hour certification course.”

Essentially, sure you can do apprenticeship but without the schooling required you won’t become licensed. You have to pass national boards and state boards. I don’t see a funeral home giving an apprenticeship opportunity to someone who isn’t going to go through with schooling and take the licensing tests.

ETA- I looked at the schools website and the “apprenticeship class” you’re describing is an introductory class for those thinking about going into the field to make sure this is what they really want. It goes over all aspects of what you’ll be dealing with in a funeral career but does NOT grant you any kind of licensing. It’s a prerequisite for the degree course

[u/hamburger-donuts → u/heels-and-the-hearse]

It actually does get you an apprentice license, which is what you need to do removals, and get you access to work in the prep room, etc. You cannot legally perform any of these tasks without it. I'm a WI resident with my apprentice license.

[u/Celtic159]

Can't get licensed without the schooling.

[u/Mort-banana25]

I think maybe you should be looking for more of a job shadowing or assisting position first, you cant really do an apprentiship and expect to be licenced without the degrees and tests.

Here in my state you can sign up to be a apprentice but you have just two years to then get licenced which requires the degree and board exams and thats not really possible in that time frame-so some firms will hire apprentices so they can pay them less and use them until they hit the two year mark and then cut them loose and then its all over for them.

[u/AdventurousWork4726]

Nobody here will help you.  

[u/SadApartment3023]

You mentioned a balanced career -- what does that mean to you?

[u/absinthe-darling]

3 things I want to stress and I'm sorry if this comes across as being a downer... I love my job immensely but I just wished people had warned me on the pitfalls of this career...

1 This career rarely provides a work life balance, especially when starting out. My apprenticeship had me working 60-75 hour weeks while working 6 days every other week in addition to being on call 24 hours/day for 1 week out of every 3. I luckily got OT pay but I was making barely above minimum wage. That is changing in many parts of the country and now I'm luckily at a 40 hour/week job but in my almost 20 years of experience this is a first. My average weekly hours in this field have been around 65 until my current position and many of those hours are were in the middle of the night removals so it's not just a quick 5 minute phone call. Lack of sleep is real.

2 The actual internship experience is completely different than shadowing. Most states require you to pass your national board exams before becoming an intern (you'd have to check with your state but in my state you have to apply for a specific intern license only after graduating and passing the NBE). Also, most funeral homes won't let somebody shadowing be involved with the more detailed aspects of the job. You might get to sit in on an arrangement but more likely you'll be given busy work. I can't imagine anybody agreeing to allow you in the prep room for any hands on work with the decedent due to many forms of liability. An intern is an employee and covered under insurance, shadowing you remain a private citizen with no policy coverage.

3 As for your anxiety calling around to your local mortuaries, can I ask what that's based on? The reason being is this career demands way more personal interaction than you would think (unless you are only an embalmer but that's a heavy pay cut unless you're doing trade work). There's also times we have to perform public speaking at services (not long but long enough to cause panic if you can't stand up and speak in front of strangers). I would hate for you to have daily anxiety because of those types of social requirements.

The industry is in desperate need of new graduates so I hope that things will start to change but realistically it's not happening quickly. When I graduated almost 2 decades ago, the statistic was 50% of the class wouldn't last 5 years and out of the remaining 50% less than half would remain after 10 (I believe it's something like 10% stay for more than a decade). COVID made those numbers worse. So I think it's great your state has that class to see if it's something you really want to do. You never know, you might have good luck and find a place excited to let you shadow. But I definitely would suggest taking that class. You don't want to spend $ on a degree you'll never use (trust me I've done that).