Originally Posted by alatus

I am a fresh graduate from a local uni. I did a degree in comp sci. I think I would enjoy having a job as a system analyst. But I have heard from people that I should not start my career being a system analyst because most senior analysts need to have a few years of implementation experience and I won't be able to advance my career if I begin with a non-technical job. Also, most of the skills learnt in an entry level system analyst role are not transferable. They said I will not get enough technical experience from being a system analyst, and I should start as a software engineer. Even though I can code, I know I'm not cut out to be a software engineer. My intuition tells me so. I will eventually switch to an analyst role, perhaps a senior analyst after a few years in development.

Is it true that I should not start with a non-technical job? Should I really start out being a programmer before transiting to a system analyst? Would being a programmer first really help to advance my career as an analyst?