To consider a job as a Coroners investigator

[Pieandchips999]

OK yes I'm probably being unreasonable posting in AIBU. But I'm trying to decide if this is realistic or unreasonable with a slightly related background. Does anyone do this job? What's the work life balance and job satisfaction like? Was it competitive to get into and what was your background before hand? Thanks

No advice, but that sounds like an awesome job!

I'm going back a bit, but they were often retired police officers.

Does sound interesting and worthwhile but probably very sad and harrowing at times

I keep debating back and forth about whether I could cope with the emotional side

We’ve had vacancies for these roles (LA). It’s almost always ex police officers as far as I know. Can be anti social hours and emotionally very difficult. Would you cope with seeing dead children etc or where bodies have been left for days, the smells etc
Speaking to family members and so on. I’ve looked at the job descriptions, it sounds like a very demanding job.

I've been involved in several Coroner's investigations through my former work. Every single one of them were serving police officers.

No advice but do you watch cause of death on C5? It's about the role of the coroner.

They are not all retired or serving police officers.
I was offered one, I'm not police.

I thought you needed a legal background?

No experience but it sounds fascinating to me although also emotional with some cases.

I knew a retired policeman who did it. Said it was the most fascinating job he'd ever had.

Back in the 60s I think they were all serving police officers.

I would be interested to know what qualifications you need if ex police are doing it?

You don't need to necessarily have a medical or police background. Says they accept those with investigative backgrounds. That can be anything.

@comedycentral I do and have for a while then was really interested in the role. Then by a very weird coincidence my Dad died and had to have a coroner's investigation and post mortem so I have lived experience too. I work in children's services so have done a lot of investigatory and court work but thankfully never a child death. One of the parts of the job is viewing bodies and advising the family of whether they should see them or not depending on the condition. That's the only bit I'm unsure about although I think I could probably manage. But very hard to know unless you've actually been in that situation which is where the police background is very helpful

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. You can volunteer in the coroners court, might be a good way to see how you feel about the family support side.

@notatinydancer can I ask why you didn't accept it assuming you didn't and what general field you are in if you don't mind please?

@comedycentral my Dad was quite strange really we weren't close and he was not a nice person. We all thought it was ridiculous they were doing an investigation as he had such an unhealthy lifestyle and assumed it was his heart (he already had significant kidney failure but that is a very different death). In the end they found he had two undiagnosed heart conditions and had a much better death than he could have hoped for and knowing for sure was actually really helpful. So it was a really good experience coroner's service wise. I've always had an interest in support around death and I am also training in counselling so it interested me

My DD is a lawyer and also works as a coroner(part time), she loves the coroner aspects and sees it as a duty to ensure the right questions are asked and the full picture is shown.

She feels each family should be treated honestly and with full disclosure.

Some of the cases are distressing but she really feels it is a worthwhile job.

It sounds like you would be good at the job.

I had an interview a few years ago and was offered the position but turned it down. But I have a background of investigating never events and incidents which occur in the nhs. Which may have helped. I’d also applied for a uni lecturer position and was also offered that and decided to go down that route instead. But yes, the coroners job looked interesting. I knew I’d be fine with bodies, etc as had seen plenty in my previous role.

Your daughter sounds like an incredible person! You must be very proud!

@fairislecable thank you that's really useful to know.
@CerealPosterHere that sounds a bit like me job application wise I'm going for a few roles which sound interesting but are all quite different
We're in a change consultation and although we won't lose our jobs it's a move that won't work for me long term. My colleagues keep suggesting I'm being very weird thinking about it so trying to make sure it's not a knee jerk reaction. The other job I'm looking at is in a children's hospice

How does your daughter find balancing the two roles may I ask? I'm also a lawyer and interested in coronial work. I'm not sure how I could sell it to my firm though!

It was the logistics and hours.

Ah @notatinydancer that's one of the reasons I'm hesitating. Are you able to shed any more light on this please?