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I have been working as a contractor for the past two years and have a good reputation with my co-workers. I asked my manager thrice in the past about converting me to full time. He would say that he was happy about my work and once an opening is there, I would be the first one to be converted.

Now few months ago, two openings came up in the team and I wanted to apply for it and I spoke to him about it again. This time he gave vague reasons and said that he cannot convert me to full time. He wouldn't give a direct answer for it. I got a job elsewhere and I will be leaving in the next few weeks.

My question is:

Should I ask him directly on what made him change his mind? I feel like he betrayed me. If he had told me initially that he will not be able to convert me, I would have looked for other options instead of waiting for this. Or If he had told me that I will have to improve on certain areas, I would have concentrated on it. He did neither and gave me false promises. I am left to wonder if it were some office politics that I am not aware of or if I have to improve myself on some areas.

I dont want to burn my bridges with him and the company. So I am in a dilemma whether to ask or to just leave as if I was happy with everything.

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  • welcome to The Workplace. In the future, you might want to leave questions open (without an accepted answer) longer to gather an even greater range of perspectives in the answers.
    – Jay
    Commented Jul 25, 2019 at 22:20

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Should I ask him directly on what made him change his mind?

No.

You already asked him when the two openings came up and he ( for whatever reason ) refused to answer. It is not likely that he will give you the real answer now that you are going to leave the company. If he sincerely was trying to help you become full time he may voluntarily tell you but don't expect him to.

Regardless, it doesn't matter now. You have found a new job and are moving on. Don't worry about what could have been, concentrate on working hard and being successful at your new company.

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  • There's also a good chance that the manager had no say in this. Using contractors is often more expensive than having employees, but the contractor fees are not really classified as salary so by employing lower salaried employees and outsourcing to those who would have to be paid a bigger salary can look "better" in the excel sheet. Maybe the positions were filled by good friends or relatives of someone higher up in the hierarchy. We will never know, and it doesn't change anything like you say. If the company regrets the decision they'll make an offer or they don't. Don't needle the manager :)
    – Jonast92
    Commented Jul 26, 2019 at 15:14
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There are any number of reasons why you weren't given an opportunity to be converted. My first time not getting "converted" my manager came to me and told me that someone else I knew was going to be put in the position which I was told was available for me. I knew the other person, and was happy for him. Over the years some managers would tell me, and some wouldn't, and I came to understand that there's more to being converted than "I want to hire your direct". In the case of that very first time, the person in question was being promoted into the job. He worked hard and he deserved it and that was just that.

There are two ways to view leaving a contract position. The first is to view yourself how most contractors are viewed, and that is as a temporary employee who is expected to leave some day. Your time ended on your terms, so you can just move on and no one will hold it against you, I promise. The second way is as a potential future full-time employee, and it sounds like that is the way you viewed it. If you still think of the place as a possible full-time gig in the future, tell the manager how much you enjoyed working under him and that perhaps you'll have a chance again in the future.

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