After Data Science Path, apply for Data Science Job or Data Analyst Job first?

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I have seen two opinions expressed online:

Opinion A:
You have to go straight for data science, because you cannot transition from data analyst to data science, since the data scientist are working more closely with the software engineers and data engineers and it is like an entirely different department.

Opinion B:
It is incredibly difficult to break into data science, you are better off going into a data analyst job first and then transitioning into data science.

Option A or Option B? For people who have finished the data science career path?

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Do you have any experience as a data analyst or is all this new for you?
What do you feel comfortable doing/are you confident in your skills? I would say apply to positions that you think you can handle and back up your resume with side projects in your portfolio.

There’s a writer I follow on Medium who was a DS and then she decided to become a data analyst. Here’s one of her pieces. She has others that are helpful too.

Edit: oops, I meant to post this article: https://towardsdatascience.com/why-data-scientists-should-become-data-analysts-first-d5a2bc68fc6e

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Only read this now because I waited for the following month to get my 3 free stories from Medium.
Here are my takeaways from the article " Why Data Scientists Should Become Data Analysts First"

  • Easier to get a Data Analyst position
  • The author’s Data Science experience merely involved applying the same set of algorithms to new data, limiting her learning. Data Analyst could be good if you don’t have domain knowledge in a specific niche because you will learn more about the domain.
  • A lot of people in companies don’t even properly understand what a data scientist does and are more familiar with a data analyst’s work. Explaining your role and your projects as a data scientist is harder and more frequent than if you were a data analyst. If you really want to build models and do “data science work”, you can just do it as an add-on as a data analyst.

The author seems to imply that the difference between the Analyst and Scientist Role is the task of Making Models and applying Machine Learning.

I suppose I could apply as a data scientist for the niche domain that I’m already familiar with, or I could apply as a Data Analyst if I want to be in a new domain/niche. I suppose when sending cold emails to target companies, depending on the culture and how well-established their data departments are, and how well top management understands Data Scientist vs Data Analyst, I could vary my proposition to fill the role of either Analyst or Scientist. Ill try to inquire how they understand the role in those companies.

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Hey
I would like to go for the Data Analyst job first and then for Data Science. I have certifications in Data Science which covered data analytics as well but for a further career, I have chosen data analytics.

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How did it go?

Can you update your answer based on your experience?