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My experience is dealership, but I know techs who also worked at independents. They seem to prefer working at a dealership. I think you will gain more experience working at a dealership because cars come in for warranty work. Independent shops tend to be less busy and do more "gravy" work, so you won't learn as much diagnostic. People like to take their cars to the cheaper indies for services, brakes, etc. If their car is under warranty, they'll take it back to the dealer.
I think the best case scenario for a new person would be a trainee working under a salary paid shop foreman. The alternative would be working as a quick service tech. That way you do work other than oil changes while you are still paid hourly. Also, be skeptical of everything. I've worked with many "masters", but only a handful I'd trust to work on my own cars. There are many parts swappers out there who cannot isolate issues with cars without hanging a new part on.
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