"I think in order to get to that point in your career where you can easily have multiple competing offers to choose from, you need to be a really good developer

"I think in order to get to that point in your career where you can easily have multiple competing offers to choose from, you need to be a really good developer with a spiffy-looking portfolio." Not true at all. Development is currently a hot market and you can get competing job offers right now without any portfolio as an average developer. If you wait a few years development might not be such a great market and you might not get a raise even if you are a much better developer.