Make sure you are outwardly showing you want to be a band director. Talk to other band directors about band, ask about other instruments, let people see you practicing other instruments, don’t always only fix percussion stuff when working or assisting with a band. This goes for any job they find, even if hired as a percussion specialist, ask and learn about how to be a better band director.

I made this transition recently, being the percussion person into a band director. To be fair I taught beginners and Middle School non varsity but I made an effort to improve my wind teaching and band teaching. The MSNV group wasn’t always a viable group to take to contest, especially when eligibility was still enforced for C/SR so I asked to direct the HS SNV and take them to contest. I also wanted more mentorship from the head director.

I see too many percussionists pigeonhole themselves by acting like they only want to teach percussion.