There are two questions at the core of this: "What made you look" and "What made you leave". They can have the same answers but this isn't a great poll IMO.
https://randsinrepose.com/archives/shields-down/ is a classic article (and an incredibly important read for anyone in engineering management) that essentially argues that these two questions are fundamentally equivalent.
Jesus, I just looked at this article's bullet points for the factors that we evaluate in an instant when considering leaving a job. And where I failed every line. :\
I knew that I was looking for something else but I hadn't consciously realized it had gotten that bad.
Am I happy with my job?
Do I like my manager? My team?
Is this project I’m working on fulfilling?
Am I learning?
Am I respected?
Am I growing?
Do I feel fairly compensated?
Is this company/team going anywhere?
Do I believe in the vision?
Do I trust the leaders?
interesting. I'm a solid 'mixed' on these, although, I'm p/t contractor, not fte.
not respected, not growing, not strong trust.
learning - some, but I don't like some of what i'm having to learn (not terribly useful outside this project).
fulfilling... occasionally, but more often not.
It's not 'that bad' for me yet, but have been trying to watch out for these signs. I've been in your shoes - where it has gotten 'that bad', and often you don't realize until you're already there.
If your "shields" went down because you had a negative workplace experience, but then you found out that you could double your salary once you started looking, I think it's totally fair to consider both the toxic culture and the compensation your "why" factors.
It's easy to use something like compensation or new challenges as a post-hoc rationalization for making a move too, even when the real reason you started looking is perhaps different and requires some introspection. As an example, you might not start looking because you want more money, but it's fairly socially acceptable to say "I left because I was made an offer I can't refuse" as a justification when you do actually leave.
