Is it too early to begin job searching less than a year into the job? I feel it’s better to leave earlier than later. Thoughts? I don’t feel like I’m developing at all.

Traditionally the advice is to stay at least one year, but nowadays it seems it is more accepted, especially if you have not done this before and have a solid ‘story’ about why you did that. Also, it’s probably not going to be istantaneous (might take a few weeks or months from start of the search to start of the new job taking into account the interview process, notice period, etc) so if you are say, 9 months into the job, I think you’re good to go.

on the same boat! 8 months in, already figured the benefits outweigh the costs. Even though I have to pay back the signing bonus

The sweet spot for changing firms seems to be min. 2-3 YOE, or less than 6 months. For the former, it’s because you’ve had enough time to be on least 4-5 deals, maybe more or less depending on the deal size). For the latter, it’s because companies understand that you sometimes can’t tell if the culture is a fit until you’ve been there for a few months. I’m assuming with 8 months you’ve been on at least 1 deal (ideally from start to close), so if you combine the narratives you should be fine. It really comes down to the story that you convey and whether it’s logical and relatable.

It’s completely fine if you have your reason why, it’s logical, and you have a strong sense of direction. First job was entirely remote back office, moved to a new job in 9 months that was client facing and completely on site (what I wanted). No issues because I communicated that. Additionally, we are in unprecedented times with Covid and the amount of job rotation there has been.