I've made at least 30% to 50% increases every time I jumped from job to job, and never stayed at a job more than a year.
You'll very rarely wind up getting as much in raises when you continue working for the same company year after year, unless you manage to get constantly promoted or are lucky enough to find yourself working for a startup that makes it big (and doesn't screw its shareholding employees over like Skype did).
Of course, eventually I might price myself out of the market. But I don't know when that "eventual" point will be for me, as I don't think I've yet reached the peak of my career.
I'm not willing to relocate from upstate NY (starting a family, local extended family, own a house) and my pay is already in the range I could find at other companies in the area. I could probably get a 10 to 15% bump going somewhere else but that's about it. I also get the impression that jumping from job to job every year is frowned upon locally. That may not be the case everywhere.
Getting 30% increases each year means after 6 years you're making almost 4x what you started at! Congrats! That's just not possible where I live without starting your own company and being very successful.
You'll very rarely wind up getting as much in raises when you continue working for the same company year after year, unless you manage to get constantly promoted or are lucky enough to find yourself working for a startup that makes it big (and doesn't screw its shareholding employees over like Skype did).
Of course, eventually I might price myself out of the market. But I don't know when that "eventual" point will be for me, as I don't think I've yet reached the peak of my career.