The EdTech sector, like other industry-focused channels in tech, is evolving as the market gradually ambraces more digitization, innovation, and disruption. Recruiting for go-to-market (GTM) jobs in this space reflects how sales motions are transforming for educational technology startups, with a focus on selectively hiring experienced sales, marketing and customer success professionals who are deeply knowledgeable about what customers are looking for in their solutions.
In this blog, we will explore how these trends are impacting talent acquisition for EdTech startups and what new developments hiring managers will need to keep an eye on:
The State of EdTech in 2024
Like much of the rest of the greater SaaS market, the educational technology and software sector lives in a paradoxical state of continuous growth and austere moderation. While profits generally trend upwards, economic uncertainties have made sales tougher and competition is fierce as startups struggle to stand out in a crowded market. Many enterprises are expanding their product portfolios through mergers and acquisitions, creating an environment where disruptor startups are getting bought up by the larger players to ensure they remain competitive in the current market.
Emerging Technologies in Education
New technologies present a lot of opportunities for disruption in EdTech and for startups to stand out in a crowded market of similar platforms. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) platforms are allowing institutions to create more immersive learning experiences. Generative AI is also gradually entering the educational space just as it has everywhere else, both through powering new solutions and by being ingrained into existing tools like grammar checkers and writing assistants. However, artificial intelligence is still a bit of a controversial topic here, given concerns about students (and even teachers) relying too heavily on AI-powered automation and taking away from their learnings.
Post-COVID Hybrid Learning Trends
Hybrid and remote learning shifts are both driving and mitigating the digitization of education, with the sector still essentially going through growing pains that ramped up during the 2020 global pandemic. Current data and market feedback indicate that we will not be seeing any holographic classrooms out of Star Trek anytime soon, but the industry is gradually progressing towards offering more options for digital learning resources and methodologies.
Job Recruiting Focuses in EdTech
With the state of the educational sector in 2024 and the SaaS startup space that serves it, recruiting trends are following similar paths to those in other software markets. Sales and marketing jobs account for a significant portion of the open positions hiring managers are sourcing, but still are often overshadowed by product development, analytical and other technically-focused positions such as engineers, analysts and programmers. This dichotomy is representative of the challenge many EdTech companies face with needing to continue scaling up revenue while also improving functionality to remain competitive, each cycle generally feeding the other.
The Rise of Tech Sales Unicorns
Technology startups are increasingly seeking their “unicorn seller,” or a highly specialized professional who possesses a deep understanding of and aligns closely with their sales motion. For many companies, these end up being a hybrid tech sales expert who intimately understands both the sales value and the technical aspects of the product. These technical sellers bring the ability to explain complex technologies to non-technical buyers, such as educators or school administrators, which is extremely crucial for closing sales in a much more skeptical and cynical market.
Hunting for Senior Sales Talent
EdTech startups are primarily focused on recruiting senior-level sales talent in the search for their specific unicorn seller. We have seen very slow sourcing trends and even slower hiring rates, reflecting the selectiveness and caution of hiring managers in the space as they take their time to find the right candidates their organizations are intensively seeking. This presents its own challenge for recruiters in the sector, as it is virtually always more time-consuming—and costly—to try to find more senior sales professionals in a competitive market.
The Quest for the EdTech Unicorn Seller
Every tech company’s unicorn seller is unique to their needs and objectives, but there are often shared characteristics that everyone is looking for:
- Experience: The most common requirement for every organization’s sales unicorn is experience; virtually everything that makes this type of seller stand out has been gained through working in the field and accumulating their skills and expertise over time.
- Technical Knowledge: For SaaS sales, being able to understand the product on a functional level contributes greatly to effectively communicating its value and closing deals.
- Strong Soft Skills: Communication, empathy, the ability to connect with other people and other soft skills are increasingly important for the software sales process.
- Market Literacy: More than just industry experience, tech unicorn sellers understand what makes their market tick and where their product fits in.
- Audience Understanding: Knowing who you are selling to and what they need to know before buying is essential for tech sales unicorns. They should have insight into the concerns of different roles and what each title is looking for.
For EdTech startups, however, sourcing the right unicorn seller goes beyond technical knowledge or soft skills alone. The best fit will know the market inside and out, understand how to build relationships within each channel, and address the core pain points of prospects and customers. This means recruiting candidates with a background in education or an adjacent sector, knowledge of the role technology plays, and established contacts in the industry.
GTM Compensation Trends in EdTech
The search for more senior go-to-market talent in EdTech often leads to salary rates for many open positions trending toward the higher end of the pay band. Account Executives (AEs), Customer Success Managers (CSMs) and other GTM professionals with more than 5 years of experience in educational technology will usually see significantly higher compensation averages as long as they have the right background. This trend also reflects the competitive hiring landscape in the sector, where demand for experienced candidates typically drives salaries upward.
Keep Track of Tech Compensation with Betts’ Comp Engine
Being able to source qualified talent in a competitive sector like EdTech requires staying on top of salary trends. The Comp Engine by Betts Recruiting provides access to the latest compensation data, including detailed breakdowns of OTE (on-target earnings), average equity per role, and insights into the candidate pool available for each percentile, helping you determine the right rate to offer top performers. Leveraging insights sourced from within our network via our proprietary hiring platform, Betts Connect, our Comp Engine gives you real-time visibility into compensation by title, industry and more.
Find Your EdTech Sales Unicorn with Betts Recruiting
Finding your unicorn GTM candidate for EdTech requires navigating through the noise of the market and getting ahead of your competitors to source your right fit talent faster. By leveraging our data-driven approach, extensive network, and experience in helping thousands of startups scale in tech, the Betts Recruiting team provides the tools and expertise you need to successfully track down your unicorn seller.
Contact Betts here and get started on your search for your tech sales unicorn in EdTech, armed with the resources and experience you need to source your right fit candidates faster.