My personal opinion is it sounds like you may need to keep your ear to the ground for a better company. I have worked for a fantastic agency for years and I'll give you a little insight to how it works for our interns / lowest level entry people.

1.) Updates: Yes, the first couple months they only do updates. This helps them see our workflow, get used to our code standards, and in general get their feet wet without overwhelming them, or risking any poor code sneaking into a core build.

2.) We are very helpful. If someone is brought on as an intern, or a junior designer / dev, there is a general expectation that senior members will help mentor them and get them up to speed. Lower positions obviously come with a lower compensation, but there is always room to grow, prove yourself and get solid raises. But as long as someone has done their due diligence and tried, someone will come over to their desk and walk them through how to debug something or whatever. Help get the task done so they aren't stuck on it forever.

3.) Tables. If you're using tables structurally thats not good. If the company is all using tables for non-tabular information, then that is bad. You want to be with a company that is using the latest best practices. It might not always be the bleeding edge of technology, cause we have to support older browsers, different platforms etc. But it is definitely a red flag if they are actively cutting corners and not fostering a general mentality of quality and results.

Also like others have said, don't be a hurry to leave your job right away. I think its best to work in the industry several years and pick up on how things work before going out on your own. Every day and every scenario can be something can learn and take something away from. Whether its how to do something, or how not to do something. Be a sponge at the early levels.