Hosted by Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics

Moderator: Jonathan Edwards, Co-Founder & CEO, New Harbor

Panelists:

• Blake Gilmore, Software Engineer, New Harbor
• Rebecca Huang, Associate Consultant IR, CrowdStrike
• Hannah Brown, Associate GRC Advisory, Coalfire

The conversation brought together real stories, practical advice, and candid reflections, this session traced the path from student contributor in a cybersecurity clinic to full time cyber professionals. Panelists shared how their hands-on clinic work became the differentiator in interviews and the foundation for their early wins on the job. They emphasized that clinic experience is more than a line on a resume but a proof of judgement, teamwork, and the ability to deliver under real constraints.

Each panelists had diverse backgrounds such as medical devices, film, biology, engineering, and more. Rather than a perfect major, what consistently mattered were curiosity, perseverance, and the willingness to learn. The panelists also highlighted that problem solving, and people skills often matter more than technical skills. The ability to listen, document, and communicate with non-technical stakeholders turns good technical work into a real organizational change.

The panel highlights brought the themes to life. Moderator Jonathan Edward described pivoting from medical devices and consumer electronics to cybersecurity to make a complex space simpler through user‑first product thinking. Blake Gilmore, a UNLV clinic alum and former film and television lighting technician, now builds web applications and data systems at New Harbor to surface vulnerabilities and drive better security outcomes. Hannah Brown works across ISO and SOC advisory at Coalfire, helping clients align to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001/27017/27018/27701, ISO 9001, BSI C5, and SOC 2. Rebekah Huang reflected on incident response and tabletop work, illustrating how clear communication under pressure is just as critical as technical depth.

The practical advice was straightforward: lead with outcomes and describe what changed because of your work. Quantify where you can or when numbers aren’t available, name the scale and context. Keep building your portfolio with sanitized write‑ups and screenshots when allowed and stay in touch with clinic partners and alumni. Most of all, don’t chase being “the most technical” person in the room rather focus on learning quickly, collaborating well, and shipping improvements.