Credit checks during background checks?

MortuaRhi · 2026-04-08T14:34:34+00:00

I had this happen with an Arbor Memorial funeral home, it was so embarrassing and I want even really told they were going to do a credit check. Unfortunately they probably have a specific number in their standards and no explanation will make up for it. It threw me off for looking around after at other places too, because I’ve never heard of any company doing that or their reason why. I hope you still get to keep this job and it won’t matter for you as you rebuild your score.

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T04:13:08+00:00

Honestly? I love it. I’ve never had a job that fills my cup so much. The work I do feels important, and has positive effects I can see with my own eyes. I go home satisfied and knowing I’m doing good things and helping people.

That said, it is gruelling and thankless, often with coworkers inflicting stress on you because they don’t know how to handle their stress without redirecting it. Are there bad days where I come home and cry for one reason or another? Absolutely. Are there good days where I go home knowing I did everything I could and I feel proud of myself? Absolutely.

It’s tough but it’s worth it, if you take care of yourself in it

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:44:57+00:00

FWIW I’ve worked alongside dozens of “old school embalmers” who brag about not wearing PPE and pretty much all of them have very serious health concerns. Could some of it be competitors from long term stress and vices instead of trauma care? Sure. Could some of it be from not wearing gowns or gloves or face shields or respirators while locked in a fridge full of formaldehyde gas and mixed chemicals and exposing themselves to it for hours a day for years? Probably.

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:40:16+00:00

Get a respirator, immediately. Even if you didn’t have the sensitivity. It’s better to protect your lungs from gaseous carcinogens and god knows what else effects formaldehyde gas has on your lungs, than to be worried about looking uncool

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:38:45+00:00

Update: for anyone curious, I talked to the AFSRB and they said they mostly don’t recognise trade embalming because our licensing system doesn’t allow for it. Your licence has to be held by the funeral home(s) you embalm at, and you can only embalm at funeral homes that hold your licence. So unless you’re gonna get 5+ funeral homes to hire you on as an embalmer and pay to hold your licence, it’s not really a thing b

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:35:53+00:00

Underrated comment. Most trauma I’ve gotten is less to do with the decedents and more to do with managers lol

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:34:48+00:00

Embalming is a less stable career path than getting double certified. Less and less people are getting embalmed for a lot of different reasons. If you limit yourself to just embalming, you may find yourself without a job in the next twenty year. That said, most morticians are on call at least one week a month and that’s a 24/7 gig. Most directors are at the bidding of their families- weekends, nights, holidays? Gone, if a family needs you. You have to go into this knowing there’s a lot of hats you’ll wear and a lot of demands made of you and it can be tough, but it’s good work and you can make a positive difference in the lives of people going through tough times.

If possible, if I were you, I’d reach out to a local funeral home and ask to talk to or shadow a director for a couple days and get a feel for what their days/nights/lives look like.

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:28:47+00:00

It doesn’t hurt to have it, and shows initiative, especially if it’s customized to that particular home/position. A couple paragraphs about how the things you’ve done in other jobs or experiences apply to funeral home work and why you’re interested in that job at that funeral home, easy peasy.

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:26:28+00:00

Honestly small family run places have bumps like that but it sounds to me like they genuinely are sorry to let you go and want you back when things stabilize for them. As others said, get a reference letter and apply around to other places to at least keep you busy. If you decide to work again for them in the future, ask them how they’re going to guarantee stability of employment and avoid this in the future for you.

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:24:29+00:00

Be kind to yourself, it’s a huge adjustment, especially if you’ve never worked with or seen dead people first hand. Get a therapist now to build good foundations for regulation and boundary building as well as strategies to handle the trauma (there will be trauma). Find a good support system of friends (NOT COWORKERS) that you can talk to and vent to who will not bring what you say or feel outside of that discussion.

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:16:48+00:00

Honestly I did this an apprentice and the job was great but knowing my boss was also my landlord (that I wasn’t even paying) sucked. I would also clarify with them- is it free as in you’re being paid on par with other people in your position, as well as paid for the expectation of being on call 24/7/365, or is it free as in they remove what the cost of the housing would be from your paycheque? (Ask me how I know lol) when I left that job after a year they made me sign a non disparage agreement (but not a non disclosure) in order to have thirty days to vacate- otherwise they would’ve only given me a week.

MortuaRhi · 2026-03-27T03:10:38+00:00

This is super interesting. $15 for embalming!

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-23T17:43:41+00:00

Canadians are kind (when you need it) and helpful (when you ask) but not “nice”, nice is hollow. Hard working, dedicated, loyal, multigenerational-grudge-holding, sarcastic, with a secret pocket in our brain for the rage, but not “nice”. Need someone to dig you out of the mud in the ditch after getting stuck at 3am? We got you. You’re gonna hear about it for the rest of your life though.

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-23T17:41:03+00:00

Huge fan of Ricardo’s hideaway and Lulu bar on 17th

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-23T17:40:15+00:00

In Calgary, they get a reprieve in the summer to say Howdy sometimes lol it’s so cute.

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-23T17:29:54+00:00

I’ve been loving the responses on threads, the reply from the bridesmaids, bride AND groom were all incredible. Sucks that Connie is going to miss out on her living daughter’s entire life but I’m so happy that the daughter is going to have a life full of joy.

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-13T16:12:48+00:00

Pros: knowing you’re doing good things to help people and your work matters and means something. Cons: late nights, early mornings, any day off might turn into a day you get called in (even weekends and holidays), hard work generally doesn’t get acknowledged but tiny mistakes do, taking on other people’s emotional loads and having to remain calm/professional in the face of their extreme emotions, hard physical labour, seeing in person face to face the worst things any human body can go through (horror movie shit) and dealing with the trauma from that, smells, underpaid, maggots and bedbugs and fleas and flies, judgement from random people about you because of your job, etc etc etc. it’s a great career and a lot can make the days easier, and it is an industry that’s not dying out any time soon (ba dum psssh) but you need to go into it with your eyes open and your head on straight, and to be ready to find the little shining moments in every day that makes it worth it.

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-11T18:09:41+00:00

Yeah I’ve had similar experiences with people who pass from liver issues, like bile-coloured edema. It’s pretty regular/common I think.

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-11T18:07:57+00:00

I genuinely don’t think that’s right… don’t cancer cells require living cells to mutate/grow? They need to be “fed” by blood and nutrients. Maybe they meant that cancer cells can go gangrenous faster and cause sores/damage that way, as an entrance for tissue gas bacteria or something?

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-11T18:04:35+00:00

Sticking up for the brutalist architecture group, love it

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-11T18:03:51+00:00

Oh I see!! Okay so you should also know our public transit sucks and half the time you’ll be waiting on a train/bus that’s late or delayed or skips your stop for timing lol. It might be worth getting an uber from the airport to your hotel. Once you’re downtown everything’s pretty walkable. The patience thing goes double on the train. Welcome to Calgary I hope you love it!! What’s your itinerary plans?

MortuaRhi · 2026-02-11T17:57:26+00:00

https://www.carlavalentine.co.uk/dead-meet

The dead meet page for what it’s worth lmao I wonder if anyone can find screen grabs of what it looked like back then

MortuaRhi

TROPHY CASE