I've just had a performance review with my new supervisor, with disappointing results.

It seems to me that I have led my project to succeed in a way that others in the same milieu have not; that this is not a fluke; and that success was obtained by methods which I could teach to others.

My supervisor explained that this is a scientific organisation, and so to get promotion I need to publish half a dozen papers. He explained, frankly and with good will, that the things I have achieved would not be highly regarded by a promotion panel.

Underlying this, I don't think he really got it himself. I think that once again I am doing good work of a sort that my employer does not reward - in fact, does not even notice.

So it seems to be time to move on again. The good aspect of this employer is it took four years to get to this point. The bad luck is that my previous department is contracting, and my previous supervisor retired. They would have been much more likely to get it.

The hardest part of the project is over. It can now proceed to completion without me. So I can look around with a good conscience.