Not seeing prospect in the job [closed]

Question

I got hired as a IT contractor to work on project A with Mark, after completing a task in project A I was told to move to new project , project B , which was new. I was the first person to start it and developed ground foundation. After working for project B for almost 9 month , they hired a intern student and they asked him to tag to me and understand what I am doing . They did not tell me I am the intern supervisor they just used me as a knowledge transfer. Meanwhile they were saying project A does not have enough people and I need to help Mark to get things done in project A as it is behind schedule.

During past three month working with this intern they tried to cut me off our of projects related to B. Mentioning that I don't need to be in the meetings and I need to focus on coding and helping Mark. They say Mark is busy and need help.

Now it is almost 3_4 months past and I completely removed from project B and Mark and one other guy were told to manage project B.

Event though I work hard to do projects properly, I don't see any job prospects in terms of position promotion. They always keep me as a worker on between projects. Which makes me feel align. They keep asking me hourly what I am doing what I will be doing . Even they look at my computer screen when they see I am typing or something to know what I do every minute. This became very annoying. I wonder if my feelings are normal?

Please note that Mark and others are employees, they tent to maintain system they do not develop something new, they do not code . They try hard to manage people.

I feel that I should become a remote worker so I do not see their face more often as they do not value my presence at work.

Answer 1

There is no "prospect" in a contracting job other than continuing the contract as long as they want you and hoping they like you enough that they extend the contract or bring you in on a new contract. Plus, of course, being paid in the meantime. (But see addendum below.)

That's what you signed up for as a contractor. You should have set your prices high enough to not only make up for the lack of benefits, but to cover whatever down time may exist before you line up the next contract.

If you are looking to grow your skills; You can tell them you'd like to tackle something more challenging, or you can look for something more challenging in your next contract. But they hired you for a specific set of tasks, and those are the tasks they are probably going to want to keep you on... and when those tasks are done they may say "thanks, goodbye." There is no guarantee they will consider hiring you; in fact some companies have explicit policies that limit the ability to turn contractors into employees.

If you took the contract hoping to be hired long-term, fine, but that was never more than a hope and if it doesn't work that way that's nobody's fault.

This is all just part of working on contract. If you find it frustrating, maybe you should be looking for a non-contracting job after this contract ends... Or maybe you should just recalibrate your expectations.

ADDENDUM: The main "prospect" is that you get a glowing recommendation from this company that helps land your next few gigs, preferably ones where you continue to grow your expertise. Repeat until retirement.