In WFRP 1st Ed., as a Thief, do you have to start as a generalist? Or are the Burglar, Clipper, Embezzler and Pickpocket specializations something you can do from the start? There is a question in our game whether that is the case, or they are chosen after completing your basic career. With them having the table listing the different trapping for said specializations as well as different career exits, it seems to imply that you can start that way. On the other hand, it seems to imply the opposite in the career exits section for the Thief, so you can see my confusion.

Any help / advice would be appreciated.

Since this is an archived forum for the discontinued WFRP third edition, there's not much hope of getting answers here at the moment. Never played first edition, so I don't know. You will probably have more luck asking on the Strike To Stun forums which are fan-run and caters to all three editions.