One of fifteen jobs former educators actually hold
The first conversation. You find and qualify the schools, someone else closes them.
Blocks of calls and emails to districts that have never heard of your company, worked from a target list. You are trying to earn one thing: a meeting that the account executive shows up to. Most of the day is people not answering. The wins are short and frequent, which is either energizing or grinding depending on who you are.
It is the bottom rung and it is treated like one. You are measured weekly, sometimes daily, and the job is repetitive on purpose. Most people do it for twelve to twenty-four months and move up or out. Going in expecting it to be permanent is how people burn out on sales entirely.
Usually a modest base plus commission on meetings booked or pipeline created.
Pick your starting point.
You already talk to skeptical adults who did not ask to be interrupted, and you already read a room fast. Knowing what a principal's week actually looks like is a real advantage over a rep who has never set foot in a school in August.
This is the most common front door into education sales for someone with no sales title yet, and the one most likely to say yes to a teacher resume. Many companies hire BDRs with no closing experience by design.
You have spent years calling parents who did not want to hear from you, so a cold call to a principal is not the hard part. You know which office actually controls a purchase, when a building leader is reachable in August, and how to get past a front desk.
Companies will hire you into a BDR seat directly. The harder question is whether you want the seat. You supervised staff and ran a building, and this job is scripted volume work measured weekly. Some admins take it for twelve months to learn the commercial side, then move to a closing role.
You know which title actually controls a purchase, when budget cycles open, and why a July email goes unread. You have sat through cold calls and know which openings got deleted. You can read a district website, a board agenda, and a strategic plan and tell whether a real need exists.
Getting hired is easy; whether you should is the real question. Business development rep sits below your former scope and pay band, and the work is volume outreach measured weekly. Most central office people skip the rep tier and target account executive. Check your district's conflict of interest policy before selling back to the district you left.
Of 23 sales postings at education companies, read in September 2026, 9 named in-school or in-district experience as accepted, preferred, or a bonus.
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