Do you want to have generic corporate interiors in your portfolio? Go for it! Good way to set yourself up for doing JUST that for the next 10 years...

i'm considering their base building studio instead of the commercial interior studio. I know I won't be working on glamours design projects but will it be a  path to a technical or pm position in the firm or at a different place? @BulgarBlogger 

haha im not........

Nova- do you want to be a designer or a Project Manager? Do you want to have your own firm down the road? 

Unless you steal clients and maintain relationships with owner's reps/property managers, it is very difficult to get corporate clients when you first start up. JLL, for example, requires that any client they deal with has to have been both in business and profitable for at least 5 years. 

That said, if you want to have a firm down the road and you are looking to get the "big firm experience" now, get experience at the big firm that will translate more easily (or relevantly) into projects you are likely to acquire as a start-up. Understand that doing curtain wall details or light cove/bathroom details 24/7, though important for understanding how to put together a set of drawings and how to do those details, may not be the most beneficial if you will be doing high-end residential projects on your own - and believe me- as a start-up, you are more likely to do residential/hospitality/gallery/retail-type projects than you will be doing high-rise projects. 

If you go down the HLW base-building route, make sure you do the following if you have client exposure (and don't do it for the sake of looking good in front of your boss- look good for yourself - see below):

1) Maintain good and close relationships with the person on the client end. 

2). Make sure the person on the client end you are dealing with trusts you to deliver quality service and product. 

People often wonder why they don't get promoted at their job... it has to do with consistency. 

Are you consistently efficient? 

Do you consistently bring in clients?

Do you consistently deliver quality?

Do you consistently satisfy the client?

Are you consistently knowledgeable and correct about a specific area of design, such as code, specifications, zoning, etc.?

Anyone can have good and bad days, weeks, months, years, but a firm has to be able to trust its staff. Trust is the pinnacle of all relationships and if there isn't any trust, if there isn't any confidence that you will be able to be consistent in the work you do, then why stick around? A non-promotion is a polite way of saying, "thanks, but no thanks." Its a fuse with a delay mechanism. Find another job before it burns out and explodes. 

- BulgarBlogger . 

Thanks for your advice! 

I am curious about them as well. Can anyone shed light on what the work environment is like? Overtime situation? I heard mixed things, and would love some clarity before making a decision to work there. Thanks!