I am looking into applying for jobs after finishing a non-econ related master's this year but have no finance skills or experience. Would it be possible to get internships at top private equity firms (e.g. Blackstone, TPG Capital, Carlyle) off cycle without such experience if unpaid? I'm assuming it's less competitive than over the summer, but is it done? I went to a top undergrad and top school for my masters and did fairly well (3.8+)
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Your chances of going straight to top PE is extremely low, unless you have a good network with the firms you mentioned. Try putting yourself in their position and say they are looking at two resumes: yours, with a 3.8 GPA, and a good school, but no finance background vs. other people, 3.5 GPA, as good as your school, but have majors in econ/bus/mba, and with work experience with IB (doesn't even have to be BB, even regionals would do). Who are they gonna pick? You bet other people.
The PE path is usually well defined, with people going to IB first then PE. But the question is, what should you do now? Network, get some training (M&I's BIWS is great), and understand the industry and what you are getting into. I may be wrong, but it doesn't sound like you are quite committed to pursuing IB/PE. If you don't mind me asking, why are you interested in this? And that's not a rhetorical question. You need to figure that out before jumping in.
if you went to harvard or princeton and got a 3.8 gpa I feel confident you can get an internship SOMEWHERE... but you can pretty much forget about Blackstone, Carlyle, etc, unless you have connections there or previous finance experience. You should look at boutiques and small PE shops and try to use personal networks, etc...
Why are you hiding what grad school and what degree you got if it's rather quite important to answer your question?
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