Contract work or permanent, which would you take? - 10 months and counting

I got a contract offer for 17 months as a machine operator and I am unsure whether to accept. This is my first time dealing with any of this. I would gain recent experience. Did a contract become permanent?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 10 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.