Sometimes, the best way to get a raise is to find a new job. One recruiter, who took that mindset to heart, now makes almost six figures.

Sara, a 28-year-old fashion recruiter in the Northeast, tells CNBC Make It that she's landed three new jobs in different industries over the past three years — resulting in higher titles and $50,000 more per year. (Sara requested that her real name be withheld to protect her job security.)

The trick to switching jobs, she says, is to understand what companies are hiring or laying off employees at any given moment and make connections with hiring managers who could potentially get you in the door. She uses LinkedIn religiously to do so.

Her lucrative job-hopping appears to be part of a larger trend: From April 2021 to March 2022, 60% of workers who switched jobs experienced increased earnings, according to a July Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. government data. The findings showed that over half of those workers saw a "real increase of 9.7% or more over their pay a year earlier."

Of those who remained with the same employer, less than half experienced higher salaries despite inflation surges.

Sara doesn't usually know if a new role will come with a raise when she applies for it: Most job postings don't include salary ranges. So instead of prioritizing jobs based on potential income, she tries to identify titles that align with the next step in her career goals.

Her strategies are most useful for anyone within the first five years of their career, she adds. Here are her top five pieces of advice for getting a raise by job hunting.

When starting out or changing industries, apply for roles that will teach you something

Three years ago, Sara, who studied marketing in college, was working in her first full-time job as an HR coordinator at a manufacturing company for $25 per hour. She knew she wanted to work in fashion, so when she saw a well-known retail brand had posted an onslaught of new positions, she applied for all of them.

"I think I applied to 16 roles within the same company," Sara says. "And none of them were in HR. I applied for entry-level jobs all over the company, instead of in on a single department. I wanted get my foot in the door, assist a team, and learn."

Sara was less concerned about the type of the position and more focused on the level. She knew she needed more experience before she could be considered for managerial roles, so she applied for lateral moves at the junior level that promised to teach her how to excel within the organization in the job description.

The strategy worked. She was hired in her first recruiting role, which came with a higher salary, in October 2019.

Stay connected: 'I'm always on LinkedIn'

Sara stayed with the retail brand for nearly two years. When Covid hit, the fashion industry struggled, and several of her colleagues jumped ship for higher paying roles in other industries. She began sending out her resume again.

This time, she says, she added a new filter to her job search: She actively avoided companies that were hemorrhaging staff in any department, not just recruiting or HR.

LinkedIn was a particularly useful tool for being able to tell whether companies were hiring or firing.

"I'm always on LinkedIn," she says. "I've stayed connected with people who I've worked with, and that's been the best way to figure out what companies are doing — both for hiring and my own career. I [always] congratulate them on new positions and ask about their new jobs."

Ultimately, Sara landed a mid-level recruiting role at an investment and capital firm in June 2021. She chose the particular industry because she thought it would be more stable during the pandemic, she says.

Rely on previous experience to stand out in new roles — even in a new industry

Adjusting to the new industry didn't take long: Sara's HR background helped her understand the structure of companies, how to communicate between hiring managers in different departments and coordinate interview scheduling. The biggest difference, she says, was that investing came with a higher volume of recruitment candidates from a wider swath of backgrounds.

"That first job ended up being so beneficial to my career, and I think entry level roles get overlooked when someone is picturing their career as a whole," she says. "When I started my third job, I could multitask and easily schedule interviews because of my HR experience — even though at the time I didn't think it was a fun job."

Sara stayed at the investing and capital firm for more than 18 months. She wasn't planning to leave — she enjoyed the difficulty of her role, had job security and a high salary, she says — until a LinkedIn connection reached out with an opportunity, inviting her back to the fashion industry.

'Think like a recruiter'

Sara was initially hesitant, but the company was willing to negotiate because of her previous connections in the fashion industry. She told them she was looking for a higher salary, flexible time off and explained she was looking for more managerial experience in her next role.

Her new job, which she started this summer, is a managing role that pays $50,000 more than her original manufacturing job.

Sara will continue connect with former colleagues and other people on LinkedIn to keep in step with the job market, but now that she's settled into her dream job, she doesn't plan on moving again for the foreseeable future.

Her advice for others looking to industry hop on the tails of the Great Recession is to "think like a recruiter."

"Staying connected with people, in whatever capacity, is just the best way to get the most exposure in as many areas as possible," she says.

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