New to Contracting (Contract finished due to org moving to Permanent Staff)

[Danglekt]

Happened in my last gig, I got rolled forward 3 times, 3 months a pop, then the managing director changed 10 months in and I was sent on my way - to be fair I was ready to move on so didn't mind.

[riffpie]

I'm sat next to the perm I have to train (effectively my replacement).

Train him/her? Or hand over your work? It's perfectly reasonable for them to ask you to hand over work to someone who has the skills to pick it up. If they're expecting you to literally train someone who can't currently do the job, unless it explicitly says you are expected to do so in the engagement, I'd offer them your training services separately. But being asked to hand something over is the norm, and you shouldn't take it personally, or get huffy about it.

[LondonManc]

Each engagement is different.

Some examples of ones I've had....
4x3months at one client - final extension was to bring a new junior permie up to speed and in effect manage myself out of the contract.
2x6 months at another - second six months was cut short after two of the months because of a change in project direction. Fortunately got two weeks to end the phase of the project tidily.
4x 3 months at another client - chose not to extend as it was getting towards a stage where I wasn't enjoying the work, project was coming to an end and I had another offer on the table.

Main thing is to be professional about it; you're now a professional consultancy company, not an employeee.