[byoung2]

You may as well take that new offer right now.

That has been my strategy 4 times in the last 6 years. You can get a much bigger raise if you switch companies than if you stay and wait for a raise. If I had stayed at my first programming job, even with generous 10% raises every 12-18 months, my salary would only have increased by 50-70%. Instead, by switching jobs, I was able to get 20-35% raises each time, and now my base salary is 113% higher than it was 6 years ago.

[bconway]

Beware that this can come back to bite you. If I look at someone's LinkedIn profile and see a slew of jobs listed in months, not years, their resume is going in the (metaphoric) trash. I need to get at least 2 years out of people, preferably 3 (on the low end).

[netrus]

You just have to know when to slow down. The recruiter will recognize the pattern, and might fear you will leave at the first best opportunity. I always felt that 3-4 years with each employer is the most promising strategy (European job market).