I started out in a small shop and never regretted it. We did residential, commercial and industrial. We'd be wiring a household boiler one day and a large plant sized one the next. Doing a 100 amp resi service change one day and a 2000 amp the next. You had to be versatile and be able to do most everything from a pool to work in a shopping center or maybe a factory. We did gas pumps,etc.,etc. Small shops can be very educational. Sorry I had to leave there when I got my license. They did try to hire me back later but I'd moved on to the bigger jobs.
My experience was almost exactly the same. I leaned more working for the smaller shop, and the used that knowledge to land better paying jobs. Went right into my construction whore phase. Good times!
