okay so a little background, ive been freelancing for about two years doing mostly construction site documentation and some event work here and there. a mid size infrastructure company reached out to me - they found some of my footage online i guess - and they want to bring me on as a salaried staff pilot. the role is basically flying for their projects, managing the drone program, training a couple other employees to eventually fly too.

the offer is $58k a year with benefits which honestly sounds decent to me but ive never had a staff pilot position before so i have zero frame of reference. like is that on the low end for this type of role or pretty standard? they're based in the midwest if that changes anything. im second guessing myself because freelance in a good month can beat that but its also really inconsistent and benefits would be huge for me right now.

also they mentioned eventually getting into lidar and photogrammetry workflows which is something ive been wanting to learn anyway so theres that.

58k in the midwest with benefits for basically running a drone program single handedly is... fine i guess, but id push back a little before accepting. if they want you managing the program AND training other people thats more of a drone program manager role than just a pilot role, and that should probably be compensated closer to 65-70k even in lower cost of living areas. the lidar and photogrammetry stuff is genuinely valuable to learn so thats a real perk, but dont let them use it as a reason to underpay you for the management responsibilities.

not saying dont take it, just saying you have more leverage than you probably think if they came looking for you.

the benefits thing is real, i went staff after freelancing and the stability alone was worth taking a slight pay cut for me. health insurance, not stressing about slow months, actually being able to plan stuff - its underrated. the lidar experience alone could open a lot of doors later too so i wouldnt sleep on that part of it.