[dave_sullivan]

I would work for a product company or get your own consulting clients.

In the agency model, the company's profit margin is everything they don't pass to you. There are too many incentives to overwork and underpay you. The larger the agency, the more this is true (see accenture). But give it a try and if it sucks you can always quit.

I like consulting directly with clients because it does expose you to a lot of different industries and also pays pretty good compared to most startups. Working with other agencies has been a very bad and expensive decision for me in the past.

[tootie]

This is very true. Good agencies know that they're reputation is more valuable than goosing their margins in the short term but not all agencies are good. I worked in the agency space for a good long time and actually found the most rewarding role was being involved in presales and having input on contract writing so I could help spell out what scope comes at what price. That and wrangling process to make sure the team is laser focussed on delivering to the contract. Two things I never thought I'd enjoy as a young developer.