ok so kind of a weird situation and not sure where else to ask. a media production company reached out to me after seeing some of my work and offered me what's basically a staff position, like a salaried drone pilot and aerial coordinator role. benefits, steady paycheck, the whole thing. they do a mix of commercial advertising, some documentary work, and corporate video.

on one hand that sounds amazing and the stability would be huge, but im also a little worried about kind of locking myself into one client forever and losing the variety that i actually like about freelancing. also not sure how to even evaluate if the salary they're throwing out is fair for this kind of role. anyone have experience on the in-house side of things or know what these positions typically pay? the company is based in a mid-sized city in the midwest if that matters for cost of living context.

I did in-house for about 18 months with a real estate marketing firm and honestly it was a mixed bag. The stability was great, like genuinely great, especially coming off a few slow freelance months. But you're right that the variety takes a hit. I was flying the same neighborhoods shooting the same types of properties over and over and after a while it just started to feel like a job job, you know? Also worth thinking about whether they'll let you take outside work on your own time - some companies are cool with it and some explicitly prohibit it in the contract, so definitely read that carefully before you sign anything.

what kind of salary range did they offer if you don't mind sharing? i feel like there's almost no publicly available info on what in-house drone positions actually pay and it drives me crazy when im trying to figure out if what im making freelancing is even competitive. also does the role include owning the equipment or do you bring your own gear because that seems like it could be a dealbreaker depending on how they handle wear and tear