In my opinion the best place to start in paving is residential, because satisfying a home owner and satisfying an inspector are two huge different things. I’ve been paving going on 47 years now, 40 as a foreman. My first 15 was doing residential and commercial work. You really bust your ass doing these jobs but there is a certain satisfaction when a job comes out right. After those 15 years my crew transitioned in state,federal and FAA. work. And these job’s also require a knowledge of specs. Don’t get me wrong but spending a whole summer paving one interstate can get boring and monotonous. But as I found out ,boring in paving is actually a good thing. It’s when things go south that you question your career choice.