TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Contracts that started somewhere in the middle of a fiscal year always
ended at the end of that fiscal year, at which time they could be
renegotiated and renewed. So ... if a consulting agency offered me a
contract for a period longer than one year, I would suspect that they're
saying anything they think they need to say to fill the contract, and I
might have a small doubt or two about their ethics.
===================
I have to say that this is my experience also. The most the
shop can say is that the scope of the work appears to be
such that it will last for x number of years. I went to one
gov't site in August, thinking that there was 2 years worth
of work (which there was), but at the end of the fiscal year
(Sept. 30) we were shown the door. Eventually the project
got back on track and they asked me to come back. This was
the following April. I didn't go, but a friend of mine did,
again being told that it was long term. Guess what? Sept.
30 came and funding stopped. They're back at it now, but
Sept. 30 is fast approaching...