My niece is seeing a voc rehab counselor (she has severe math LD caused by brain damage at birth due to improper forceps use) and several physical issues caused by said damage. She is pursuing a career in the mortuary field. Her counsler wants her to go and talk to people in mortuaries/funeral homes about what the field is like and what options she has (what kinds of jobs are there).
My brother is just concerned how the people she talks to are going to respond to her (not about hurting her feelings, she’s tough), but are they going to treat her like some nut that just wandered in from the street or are they going to take her seriously. She is 19, with good personal hygiene and her social skills are adequate.
She’s a legit student with a legit reason for dropping by. As long as she’s clear about that, she has nothing to be worried about.
She should call ahead of time, though, and she should have her questions prepared in case the person on the other end tells her to come on by.
“Hi - My name is <say your name>. I’m studying mortuary science at <say your school’s name> and my teacher wanted me to interview some people who are working in the field. May I make an appointment for next week, to drop by and ask you some questions?”
Forgot to mention, she’s not in school. Her LD (well documented) may make college next to impossible. She test’s at a 4rth grade level in math. Reading, writing and verbal skills are off the charts though.
Merneith’s advice still works for her – “I am exploring a career in mortuary science…” – and it’s a good opportunity to find out what education, including science and math, was involved in working in the field.
When I graduated HS, I was considering going to a trade school to learn Heating and AC. I had concerns that after graduating I wouldn’t be able to get a job with out experience.
So I opened up the phone book and looked up a bunch of Heating and AC repair places with the intent of asking the hiring managers if they would actually hire someone fresh out of trade school.
The very first place I called, I wound up talking to the owner. The man on the other end of the phone was so impressed that I actually had the forethought to call him up in the way that I did, he offered to take me to lunch. That lunch turned into me working for him for a week to see if Heating and AC was for me.
It turns out it wasn’t, and besides, I knew I wanted an actual degree, BUT I was thankful for the opportunity.
I can’t imagine a whole lot of people would act negatively when you show an interest in what they do.
Mortuary science is a tech/associates degree. I’d assume any funeral home would want/require you to have that before they hired you. I’d check out how much math (if any, I have no idea) is required for that degree. I mean, math is going to be required for all degrees, but if it’s just general math, she might be able to get it waived due to the circumstances, if there’s math required in the field, that’s different. For example, someone mentioned HVAC, that degree would require quite a bit of math, not just above and beyond the general stuff, but even out in the field.
Also, there’s a good chance that the state requires people to be licensed before doing that kind of work and getting licensed probably means going though at least some schooling.
Anyways to get back to the question, no, not weird. She could even have her counselor or parents call ahead so they know it’s not just some random person. I’d also have the counselor/parents let the person know that she’s just heading into the mortuary science program and years away from looking for a job she just wants to get a feel for what it involves and has some questions. That way the person on the other end of the phone isn’t already trying to come up with reasons they can’t hire her.