What is the difference between a BDA and an Analyst?

Did you already have the chance to browse through our career site? You might have come across vacancies for our MP Master Programme (part-time) and our M&A Internship/Analyst. In case you’re considering applying for either of these positions, this blog post will give you some further insights into what it is like working as a Business Development Analyst (= MP Master Programme) or an Analyst at MP, based on my first-hand experience.

My Journey at MP

Two years ago, I started working at MP as a Business Development Analyst while completing my master’s degree. Starting out as a BDA, you can get some first-hand insights into the world of M&A, greatly complementing your academic education. After finishing my master’s degree, I got the chance to join the execution team as an Analyst. So, throughout the past year, I handed my Business Development responsibilities to my successor and began to immerse myself in the role of an Analyst.

Main Differences Between BDA and Analyst

In general, the main difference between an Analyst and a Business Development Analyst is the active involvement in projects and the dynamics that come with the project business. As a BDA – as we at MP call Business Development Analysts – the scope of activities includes mainly tasks that can be easily planned, organized and flexibly adapted around university schedules.

Roles and Activities as a BDA

The activities of a BDA at MP are different than the tasks of an Analyst. Working as a BDA while completing a master’s degree can already teach you some valuable skills and abilities that are thoroughly advantageous in your further career in the execution team. For example, good time management and working within dynamic conditions. Furthermore, through close cooperation with the sector head, you can learn a lot from his sector expertise and thus, get deep insights into the respective industry. Among others, activities in business development involve establishing contacts with decision-makers of relevant target companies.

Transitioning to Analyst Role

This proves to be a solid training for creating a confident appearance while interacting with a wide range of people. It also gives you the opportunity to get in contact with esteemed entrepreneurial personalities. And who knows, it may be that one of the established contacts from business development will be involved in a later project of yours. Although many valuable skills and abilities can already be developed and acquired in the activities as a BDA, when becoming an Analyst, one has to cope with the additional challenges.

Challenges and Responsibilities as an Analyst

With the promotion from BDA to Analyst, not only does the field of activities increase in terms of diversity and complexity, but also the amount of responsibility grows. In addition, since we at MP manage global projects from one of our locations, being an Analyst requires the willingness to travel as well as flexibility in terms of availability.

Continuous Learning and Professional Growth

Due to the diversity of daily business activities, the learning curve never really flattens out completely. In addition to the given opportunities for personal and professional growth that working in M&A implies, MP frequently offers various internal and external training to further develop your skills and master daily activities more effectively. Moreover, I appreciate that MP provides a throughout pleasant working environment and the chance to work with and learn from a highly experienced and diversified team.

For me, it has been a rewarding decision to start working at MP as a BDA and then taking the step from being a Business Development Analyst to Analyst. I am excited to be working as an Analyst at MP and taking a more active role when it comes to getting deals done.