From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbegin (something) as something phrasal verbto be a particular thing at the start of your existence, working life etc Roger began his career as an office boy. → begin→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
begin as • Jones, a registered nurse, began working as a center volunteer in 1983 and became director of operations in 1989.• The daughter of a distinguished Cambridge mathematics tutor, she began work as a Sunday school teacher in the 1850s.• Gary, 26, left school with just four CSEs and began working as an engineer.• Men of industry and commerce began to emerge as men of some wealth.• Melissa's heart began to thump as she peered round to see what was causing the obstruction.• My head began to pound as soon as I got there.• The former began to subside as the managers progressed through the year; the latter, however, would remain. 