It's not always a good idea to this. More of than not, probably. Many times if you tell them you're going to start looking, they're going to start looking, too.

It's not always a good idea to this. More of than not, probably. Many times if you tell them you're going to start looking, they're going to start looking, too. And if they find someone and you don't? Well, the potential new hire may start to look really good while you, depending on your reasoning, are starting to look really shitty right about then. I've had mixed results here. The one time I did this and it was well-received, the company was already in the middle of hiring a swatch of new people, including some in my direct product/line. The other time, the manager/COO/CEO didn't take it nearly so well, despite my reason for leaving having little to do with them at all. I just got a better opportunity that I knew my employer at the time could never offer, including a 50% pay raise (to start). I'm pretty sure if I hadn't of found something, I'd have been out the door in any case...