First of all, unless the US tech industry is even more unwell than I thought, headhunters are paid by employers, not by jobhunters.

Correct. Typically they charge the company 30% of your first year's salary or something crazy like that.

Signing up with one or several costs you nothing: there's no downside. Or at least, no financial downside: I did get a lot of spam last time I tried this, as the headhunters themselves aren't terribly technical and so can't immediately size up whether a job they're trying to pitch has any relevance to you or not.

Well, that's been my experience. I was always getting contacted by them way back when I had my resume up on Monster and they were always sending me jobs that had nothing to do with my skills. I figured if I picked one, actually met with them face to face or at least clearly explained what I want in a phone call, I might get better results. The thing is I don't know anyone who's ever actually used a head hunter to get a job, so I'm kinda unsure if it's worth the hassle. True there's no financial downside, but I have a limited amount of time each week to be job hunting, and I'm not sure if it's better to let them do it, or for me to do it myself.

No-one ever leaves a company except six months later than they should have. Would your company "hang on tightly" to you if they thought you were bad for their long-term goals?

Both good points. The thing is I have this fantasy world in mind where the strategy they're banking on comes crashing down and I come in dressed like John Wayne and save the day. This company has a LOT of benefits, and a profit-sharing program that kinda puts golden handcuffs on. If I could close my eyes and sleep through a couple bad years, I'd probably have an ulcer, but I'd have racked up a lot of shares of our profit sharing, a great retirement plan (the company is itself a leader in retirement funds) etc. They're also paying for my masters degree right now, which I'll finish in May, but then I'm supposed to stay a year afterwards or they come after me for the money. Not like I'll pay, but still.

Of course, some of this only applies if you don't suck. But how much could someone suck who has such great taste in car audio?

I know I don't suck. In fact until this past year I proved it on a regular basis by surpassing senior developers with 10 years of experience and basically doing their jobs better than they did. I just don't know if there's enough of a market for my skills. In my company, technical people are looked at like Betamax VCR's. Obsolete, despite their measurable value in the past. Now all they want is project leads and pseudo-managers to sit in rooms and update statuses and argue over requirements. And most of all, to buy products off the shelf and get rid of "expensive" developers. It makes me wonder if I'm as hot of a commodity as I was when I started here.