bit of a weird one to post about but i dont really have anyone in my life who knows this industry well enough to give me good advice. i've been freelancing for about 18 months and out of nowhere a regional media production company reached out - they do commercial work, some TV stuff, local broadcast - and they want to talk about bringing on a dedicated aerial operator. staff position, not contract.

i've never really done a proper job interview in the drone world before, all my work has been word of mouth or through Dronebase and similar platforms. so im trying to figure out what questions i should be asking them versus just letting them drive the whole conversation. like what does a staff position at a company like that actually look like day to day, what equipment would they expect me to be flying, do they provide gear or expect me to bring my own... i have no idea what's normal here. anyone been through something like this or work in that kind of environment

congrats on that, sounds like a solid opportunity. few things i'd definitely ask - first, who owns the aircraft and who is responsible for maintenance and insurance, because that can get complicated fast if they expect you to use your own equipment on their productions. second, ask about the flight volume, like roughly how many shoot days per month and what type of work it mostly is, because "media company" can mean anything from sitting around waiting for one shot every two weeks to flying back to back long days constantly.

also worth asking whether you'd be the sole aerial person or part of a bigger production team, and whether they have a designated safety officer or if that responsibility would fall on you too. the liability question is big in a staff role versus freelance. you want to know who's making the calls on no-fly decisions when the director is pressuring everyone to get the shot.

i'd also just ask them straight up what made them decide to bring someone in-house instead of just hiring out per project - their answer will tell you a lot about how serious they are and how well they actually understand what aerial work involves. some companies kind of undrestand it and some really dont, and you want to know which one you're walking into