ok so this is kind of a good problem to have but also stressing me out a bit. been freelancing for about 3 years doing mostly real estate, some film and commercial work, occasional infrastructure stuff. it's been going pretty well — not getting rich but making a decent living, flexible schedule, i set my own rates etc.

a production company reached out last week and offered me a full time staff position as their in-house drone pilot / aerial operator. the salary they mentioned is actually decent, benefits obviously, and the work sounds interesting — they do a mix of commercial advertising and some documentary stuff. but i'd basically be giving up all my other clients and the flexibility i've gotten used to. anyone been in a situation like this or have thoughts on what questions i should be asking before i decide? the schedule they mentioned is kind of all over the place which is fine but i want to make sure im not trading one kind of instability for another

id ask specifically about how much creative input you'd have versus just being the guy they point at a subject. some in-house roles are great, others you're basically a camera tripod with a Part 107. also find out if you retain any rights to your work or if everything is work-for-hire, and whether you can do any outside projects on your own time. that last one matters a lot if freelancing is something you'd want to keep doing even part time.

the benefits thing is real though. when i was freelancing full time i was paying an insane amount for my own health insurance and that alone made a staff job look way more attractive on paper than the salary difference suggested

documentary and commercial mix sounds honestly pretty sick for keeping your skills sharp across different types of flying. i'd probably lean toward taking it just for the experience if the pay is genuinely decent — you can always go back to freelance later but a credit on some real commercial work is hard to replicate on your own. just my two cents, no idea what your full situation is