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In my short career I've noticed that employers are notorious for underpaying you to the point that people with 3-4 years of experience are getting paid the same as freshers. The management always has an excuse to not increase pay or increase it very minimally. The best way to increase pay has been to keep moving every 2-3 years from one company to the next if switching means at least 1.5x or 2x the current salary.
This means major interview prep requiring solving leetcode style questions, solving system design questions, then some more. I just wanted to how often do you prepare? Are you always interview ready or start prepping a few months before switching jobs?
Over a decade later I'm still with my first employer.
I could make more elsewhere, but I suspect at max 2x after twelve years - not 2x every 4 years. Did I receive more reasonable raises than they happen in your experience?
With other things I value about my work environment and employer, my pay is fair and good enough for me to stay.
I'm so glad I don't have to hassle with prep and interviews. (I had one phase where I did but ultimately stayed with my employer in a bit of a different setup.)