Careers
So you think you want to work for us?
Before you apply, we want you to know what you are signing up for.
Yes — we are a funeral home. Yes — almost all funeral homes provide services for veterans. What makes us different is that what we handle in a week is what the average funeral home does all year.
In a week, we may handle a retired USMC Sergeant Major, an Army Colonel, a WWll combat veteran, a retired Navy Captain and two Vietnam era deaths.
All of the funeral directors and most of our staff are either a veteran, the spouse of a veteran, or the child or grandchild of a veteran. So the death of a veteran is a big deal here. The military funeral, the church ceremony, the rifle team, all must be perfect. We only get one chance.
We have had some staff who “washed out” — they couldn’t keep up. The constant interface with Arlington National, with the National Cemetery Administration staff, with the Veterans Administration, is time consuming.
Getting the chaplain, the rifle team, the bugler for TAPS, the Patriot Guard Riders — it is a lot of work, because a veteran’s funeral is a big event with many moving parts. We do these things remembering when our own fathers, grandfathers or grandmothers passed away.
You will only make it here if it’s passion that makes you apply.
Be prepared, we are going to ask, “why do you want to work with us?” If you haven’t watched “Patton” fifty times, if you haven’t watched “Band of Brothers” over and over, if you haven’t read the book “Lone Survivor”, we are going to doubt you are a good fit.
Knowing the difference between Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day is huge here.
Let me clue you in. . . no one on our staff leaves the building on May 29th saying, “Have a happy Memorial Day weekend.” We say, “I’ll see you at Florida National in the morning; want to have breakfast before?”
Everyone here knows that the Gold Star moms despise the “Memorial Day Sales” in the newspaper. Memorial Day has become a three day weekend in America. It’s a day of picnics and beach balls. But to us, it’s a day to remember our war dead.
Most funeral homes don’t know the difference between a Bronze Star Medal and a Bronze Battle Star. They don’t have a clue what a Bronze Arrowhead device was awarded for.
In a short period of time, we will expect you to know these things. Why? So that you can help our veterans families in planning an appropriate ceremony, in crafting a life story or an obituary in the newspaper that honors their loved one. So that you can apply for all available veterans benefits for our clients.
Veterans Funeral Care is the first funeral home in America that was designed and built to serve the retired military – veteran community. It’s a community we are proud to be a part of. If serving this community is important to you and you meet the criteria laid out in this letter, please feel free to send us a resume.
Sincerely,
Jim Rudolph, President.
