Why have they forsaken me?

After being semi-rejected in my interview last Friday I contacted HR to find out more about the company policy for contract workers. I talked to the HR person in charge of the study manager position and she said that she spoke with her superior and they both agreed that I would be able to qualify for the position after all. Time as a co-op student did not count towards the 18-month contract limit, and since I am now currently an independent contractor, I am still not a *insert my company here* employee. She said she would do a final check with her legal counterparts, but things looked good. It was almost a break-up but we wanted to try working it out.

Everything was looking up. Until yesterday.

I had figured two days had gone by and I should follow up with my interviewers like I said I would. No one was at their desk yesterday afternoon so I left a polite voicemail for each interviewer saying that I had spoken with HR and they informed me that since my time at *insert my company here* has been either as a co-op student or as an independent contractor, this allows me to qualify for any contract position up to 18 months. Blah blah blah about wanting to express my interest in the position again and if they wanted to further discuss my credentials I would be happy to meet again.

Not even 5 minutes after I had finished leaving the last voicemail, I got a call from the HR lady again. This time *insert my company here* decided to rip my still-beating heart out of my chest and stomp on it. She told me that the legal department is very black and white. In this case, they are adamant that anyone working at *insert my company here* as a non-permanent employee accrues time towards the 18-month limit. This policy was put into place b/c some people had previously tried to demand pensions and benefits after a prolonged contract stint. These few people got greedy and ruined it for everyone. I can understand where they are coming from but it's hard to sympathize when they have effectively screwed all other contractors over. The HR lady was very nice and explained to me that she was in my position at one point as well and understands my frustration. She also said that when she did finally become permanent she tried to get the company to create a waiver for contractors to sign so that they could protect their butts and contractors could work for longer. It didn't fly with the big wigs and that was the end of that. She offered to clear it up with the interviewers and say that she just spoke with me and had misinformed me about the policy.

So now here I am, after having put over 2 years into this company, being turned away from staying on just by a technicality. My only chance is to apply for a permanent position but those don't come around very often as other contractors in the very same positions get preference and snatch them up, leaving the company to post a contract position instead. I guess time at *insert my company here* counts for nothing and I shouldn't have been as loyal as I was... staying on to complete my project even though I should have been looking out for a new job that would be permanent from the get-go.

This is the end of our relationship. To hell with them! This is where I say buh-bye to *insert my company here*. They've been stringing me along for too long.