bit of a weird situation and curious what people here think. ive been freelancing for about 3 years doing mostly mapping and inspection work, built up a decent client base, not getting rich but comfortable. a civil engineering/surveying firm reached out after seeing some of my photogrammetry work online and offered me a full time staff position. salary they're talking is around 58k to start with benefits.

on paper thats actually less than what i made last year freelancing but i also had two really slow months that nearly gave me a heart attack so the stability is appealing. the role would be mostly lidar scanning and mapping for infrastructure projects which honestly sounds more interesting than the random real estate gigs i do now. they'd also pay for additional training which i've been wanting to get into more seriously anyway.

the thing im hung up on is whether taking a salaried job kind of closes a door. like once youre staff somewhere do you lose the freelance clients and then if it doesnt work out you're starting over? i dunno maybe im overthinking it. anyone been in a similar spot

took a staff job at a utility company two years ago after freelancing and honestly dont regret it at all. the lidar and inspection work you'd be doing is genuinely good experience that would make you MORE valuable freelance later if you ever go back, not less. infrastructure scanning is a specialty and theres not that many people who actually know what theyre doing. the salary sounds low but factor in not having to chase clients, no equipment liability on your own, and they're paying for training — thats real money you're not spending.

the clients thing is tricky though, you'd want to be upfront with the firm about any non-competing freelance work if you plan to keep a couple small clients on the side. some companies are fine with it some arent. just dont assume and then have an awkward conversation six months in

58k for lidar and survey work seems kind of low to me depending on where you are geographically? i've seen postings for similar roles in the midwest going for 65-75k. might be worth countering before you accept, especially if you're coming in with 3 years of experience and your own client portfolio thats basically proof of work right there