From Intern to Fellow: Career Lessons from a Cybersecurity Pioneer
How Carrie Notchenberg built an extraordinary tech career by focusing on impact over intelligence
In the fast-moving world of tech careers, few stories are as instructive as Carrie Notchenberg's journey from Norton's first intern to becoming a Fellow at Symantec—the company's highest technical role. His path through cybersecurity, Google X, autonomous vehicles, and academia offers invaluable insights for engineers at every stage of their careers.
The Foundation: Starting at the Bottom
Notchenberg's story begins in 1992 as an intern at Peter Norton Group (later acquired by Symantec), where he literally worked at a test computer because they didn't even have a desk for him. This humble beginning would eventually lead to him becoming Symantec's most senior engineer—a 24-year journey that demonstrates the power of long-term growth within an organization.
"I got to work on whatever I wanted for my entire career at Symantec," Notchenberg reflects. This unusual freedom came from proving himself early and consistently delivering impactful projects.
The Secret to Reaching Fellow Level: Impact Over Intelligence
When asked what set him apart from other engineers, Notchenberg's answer is revealing: "I look for things with big business impact. I look where there were gaps."
His promotion to Fellow wasn't based on completing increasingly difficult technical challenges assigned by others. Instead, he developed what he calls "project taste"—the ability to identify problems that truly matter to the business and tackle them independently.
Key Examples of High-Impact Projects:
- Polymorphic Virus Detection: When traditional antivirus methods took six months to handle new threats, he developed algorithms that could detect self-mutating malware variants in real-time
- Technology Strategy: Defined company-wide technology strategy that aligned all divisions
- Research Transfers: Successfully moved multiple research prototypes into shipping products
The Intelligence Myth: Why Smart Isn't Enough
One of Notchenberg's most counterintuitive insights challenges the tech industry's obsession with raw intelligence:
"I don't think I'm a really intelligent person. I take forever to learn new things... You don't need that much intelligence to be successful, but enough."
He witnessed this firsthand at Google, where he met someone with clearly over 200 IQ who remained at L4 due to poor communication skills and lack of business impact focus.
What Actually Drives Career Growth:
- Communication Skills: "People will think you're intelligent and give you more credit based on your ability to communicate"
- Collaboration: Learning to work with others without alienating them
- Outcome Focus: Understanding what matters to your company, division, and customers
- Project Selection: Choosing work that moves important metrics
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at the Highest Levels
Despite his success, Notchenberg struggled with imposter syndrome throughout his career: "I always worried... what if I'm not good enough for Google or Meta?"
This fear kept him at Symantec longer than ideal, even when he wasn't growing anymore. His breakthrough came when Google X directly recruited him, forcing him to confront his fears: "I said, 'Well, I'm probably going to fail this interview. I'm sure I'm not good enough, but I'm going to do it.'"
The lesson: Sometimes you need external validation to overcome internal doubts, even at the highest levels of technical achievement.
The High-Level Interview Process
For senior roles, the interview process looks dramatically different:
- No coding problems: Focus shifts to design problems and leadership scenarios
- Behavioral emphasis: Questions about solving hard problems and handling conflicts
- Sales pitches: Companies actively recruit rather than just evaluate
- Strategic discussions: Conversations about industry direction and vision
"It was really about going through the motions of having interviews and selling me on the role," Notchenberg explains about his Google X interview process.
Navigating Big Tech Culture
Moving from Symantec to Google revealed significant cultural differences:
What Was Different:
- Talent density: "Really, really, really smart people" everywhere
- Engineering culture: More structured processes and higher standards
- Expectations: "When you get to senior levels, there are very high expectations"
What Remained the Same:
- Project taste issues: Even brilliant people often lacked good judgment about which problems to solve
- Political dynamics: Senior levels still involved meetings, debates, and "a lot of garbage"
The Future of Software Engineering in the AI Era
As both an industry veteran and current UCLA professor, Notchenberg has a unique perspective on how AI will reshape software engineering careers:
Near-term Reality:
"Someone is going to have to go and look at that code and understand the mission of the company... and make sure it's doing the right thing. That requires real thinking."
Long-term Vision:
If we reach AGI-level programming capabilities, the focus will shift entirely: "The greatest engineers will be people who really understand a problem they're trying to solve for a customer... and figuring out how to clearly communicate to an LLM those requirements."
Academic Insights: Teaching and Learning
Notchenberg's transition to teaching at UCLA (which began with a frantic call two weeks before classes started) has given him insights into both education and communication:
Teaching Philosophy:
- Teach to the middle: "I try to design lectures for what I think is one of the lower common denominators, which is myself"
- Student empathy: "I try to put myself in their shoes and ask what would they know?"
- Make it enjoyable: "I want them to learn and enjoy. I want them to come to class"
AI in Education:
His experience allowing students to use LLMs revealed concerning trends: "They were using it in ways that hindered learning." He's now restricting AI use to concept clarification rather than project completion.
Career Advice: The Essential Framework
Looking back on his career, Notchenberg offers several key pieces of advice:
When to Stay vs. Leave:
Stay as long as you're learning: "You should stay in a job as long as you are learning new things and building new skills"
Leave when you're stagnant: "When you get to that point where you can just wake up and have some nice coffee... it's time to leave"
Overcoming Fear:
"Don't let fear of failure hold you back. You probably can do more than you think you can do."
Focus on Outcomes:
"Think about who's going to use it, what do they care about, how do they measure success, and then optimize for that."
Find Good Management:
"A manager can make or break your career and your life and your happiness."
The Long View: Building a Meaningful Career
Notchenberg's story demonstrates that extraordinary careers aren't built on genius alone, but on consistently choosing impactful work, developing strong communication skills, and maintaining the courage to grow beyond your comfort zone.
His journey from intern to Fellow, from cybersecurity expert to autonomous vehicle architect, from industry veteran to beloved professor, shows that the most rewarding careers are built on continuous learning, genuine impact, and the wisdom to know when it's time for the next challenge.
For engineers at any stage, his career offers a roadmap: focus on outcomes over output, communication over complexity, and impact over intelligence. The technology may change, but these fundamentals remain constant in building a career that truly matters.
This interview reveals the often-hidden dynamics of senior technical careers and offers practical wisdom for engineers looking to make their mark in an increasingly complex industry. Whether you're just starting out or looking to reach the next level, Notchenberg's insights provide a valuable framework for sustainable career growth.