okay so this is kind of a weird situation and im not sure how to think about it. a pretty mid-sized media production company reached out and offered me a staff position as their in-house drone operator. full time, benefits, the whole thing. salary they're talking is around 58k which honestly feels low but it's also like... guaranteed money every month which freelancing definitely is not.

ive been freelancing for about 18 months and in the last 6 months ive been averaging maybe 4500-5000 a month but its all over the place. some months were closer to 7k, one month was like 2200 and that was stressful. the staff job would basically be shooting for their clients, probably a lot of commercial and some event work from what they described. i dunno, part of me feels like taking a staff job is admitting defeat somehow which is probably a dumb way to think about it

anyone dealt with this kind of decision? the freedom of freelancing is really nice but the anxiety around slow months is genuinely wearing on me

that "admitting defeat" thing is just your ego talking, ignore it lol. ive gone back and forth between staff and freelance twice now and honestly both have real advantages depending on where you are in life. when i had a kid the staff job was the only thing that made sense, health insurance alone was worth like 800 bucks a month i wasnt paying out of pocket anymore.

58k does sound a bit low for a full time specialized role though, especially if you're consistently pulling 4500+ on your own. i'd push back on the number before you decide. worst they can say is no. and if they wont budge at all on the salary thats actually useful information about how they value the position.

also worth thinking about what equipment they provide and whether you'd still be allowed to take outside work. some staff positions are fine with you freelancing on weekends and some have exclusivity clauses that basically lock you down. id read whatever contract they send over really carefully, or have someone who knows employment contracts look at it before you sign anything