Mixed Mess(ages)

Tomorrow, Automatrons R Us (where I am "just a temp") has it's annual "Our Future's So Bright We Can Hardly Stand It" celebration. In the past when I've been a contractor, these soirees were "for employees only" and "justatemps" were not ALLOWED to attend. So imagine my surprise when I was informed about a week ago that my attendance at this function is MANDATORY. And I have to be there an hour before my normal start time. And it's farther from home than my normal workplace. Yeah, I'm thrilled.

Now, I suppose there are some people who would see this as a glimmer of hope that maybe they were going to be brought onboard full time. To this I say "nay nay" gentle reader. And here's why I say "nay nay"...

When I was first hired, there was talk of my getting a company cell phone. I hadn't heard anything more about it so I decided to probe a little today and was told that "Bossman doesn't think it's a good investment for Just A Temp". Allrighty then... this says to me that my "Just A Temp" status is not likely to change.

I hadn't been told by the agency pre-interview why the position was open but it slipped in the postmortem that I was covering for someone on maternity leave. The person on maternity leave is due to come back mid-June and they hired someone internally to cover for her absence and will be (allegedly) keeping him on after she returns. What I don't understand is why would they tell the agency something that isn't true? Why say I am covering for a maternity leave when I'm not? And most maternity leaves aren't six months. So... maybe they didn't want to admit it was a couple of month position and not a 6 month position? I know that there are people out there who would jump at an 8-12 week gig where they weren't going to be brought on full time. I was told by the company in the interview that this could become a permanent position. Was that a ruse as well? Were they afraid that if they were honest I wouldn't take the job?

I finally have access to the programs I need to do the job I was hired to do. However, I need some training to be able to use them. No one seems interested in giving me any training. They all seem as apathetic about that as they did about getting me access to the programs in the first place. (I find it very difficult to believe, especially since I know how to read their IT tickets, which are being emailed to me, that they escalated the situation at all. Everything I've seen so far was done 2 weeks after I was TOLD it was done/requested and everything is marked "low priority" or "not critical").

Meanwhile... another company I haven't heard from in well over a month let me know that a position they had allegedly submitted me for almost 2 months ago has been filled. (insert eyeroll here). But I am "on the top of their list" for the next opening at The Evil Empire. (See this? This is me not holding my breath...)

::SIGH:: I'd better get to bed. I need to be up early to be all "Rah Rah for the company that will never hire me...!"