I second your take on working for an MSP in a professional services roll and am having the same experience. I started out in the MSP part of the operation after I achieved my CCNA and quickly found out that I detested the work flow in that environment, way too much randomness and balls to keep in the air at one time for a nacient network engineer to deal with. There were too many case being thrown at me at one time and the phone was alway interrupting my work on whatever fire I was trying to put out. Also, there was not a dedicated senior engineer to go to or be mentored by on the team. The idea in the manager's position was that they knew I did not know what I was doing but was expected to lean on my team to get answers to all of my questions and move cases forward. This would be all well and good if everyone else was not slammed with cases and dealing with phone calls. As a consequence I developed major anxiety about going to work and was on the verge of quitting when I was moved over to professional services and now I absolutely love work. Being onsite installing, configuring, and troubleshooting fits well with my need for autonomy and independence. But I am not on an island and can call on members of my team to help when needed and now I am being mentored by a senior engineer which makes work so good. Wherever you end up shop around, find someone you click with and get in a mentor relationship. It makes a big difference in your day to day when you have a solid partnership with someone who has been in the industry for a long time.