So, I have an opportunity to actually be a professional Fiction writer for a company, working in their world's continuity. It's an open call, so there is a slimmer chance of me being hired on. Instead of asking for tips to of things to do to improve my chances, I am looking for suggestions of things not to do that would torpedo my chances.

Don't wear your boots on your hands during the interview. That never goes well.

Wash all your parts.  Shave the parts that need shaving. Brush those parts that get brushed.  Dress nicely.  Shine your shoes.  Be yourself.  Bring samples of your work on paper and on a memory stick.

Sorry...

Don't wash anything.  Don't shave anything. Don't brush anything.  Wear any old thing, things with holes are best.  Wear your yard work shoes.  Be what you think they want you to be, because if you get the job, it won't matter by then.  Samples?  Who needs them...
This message was last edited by the user at 14:29, Sun 20 Apr 2014.

Answer every question with a story.  "What's your best trait?  My best trait is blah, because yadda-yadda and then thus and such happened because stuff."

Research the company and ask questions of your own.  "Do new employees have a mentor?  Will I usually be working with one editor or is there a rotating bank?"  See if you know anyone that works there on Facebook or LinkedIn and ask them if they would recommend you (presuming the other person is a great employee whose name would make them think higher of you).

Be able to answer questions like what your words per minute typing speed is -- not your "I'm copying text from another page" typing test speed, but your "I'm creating fiction writing speed".  How much of that is usable?  What's your typical brainstorming like -- how do you brainstorm, how much do you plan out?  In other words, if you were assigned to write a 20,000 word novel and you were being paid by the hour, how many hours would it take you, based on your typical writing rate?  Don't cut yourself short, but don't go for an excessively long time either.

Make sure to shake the interviewer's hand when you go in, look them in the eye, and remember to blink at least four times a minute, but don't blink too much.  Also, dress up, etc.  What's the dress code like there?  Go for slightly better than what people usually wear.

How do you feel about people changing what you write?  About editors or direction from on high saying that you have to include something particular, or that your story has to go in a certain direction or include discrete plot points or something?  They won't want a dog who'll roll over and just willy-nilly change everything, but that sort of is what they'll want -- someone who'll be really easy to work with without drama.

Good luck! :)

Read some of the world continuity they've already published before heading into the interview?

Oops, wait! You asked for stuff NOT to do.

Um. Don't be an ignorant applehat.
This message was last edited by the user at 23:51, Sun 20 Apr 2014.

'Don't do' items?...

Don't oversell your abilities.  If you need three days to think stuff through and plot it out before you start writing it, let them know that, because if they need someone who's ready to write after a couple of hours of thought, and you make them believe you can operate that way, you're not going to last long, and they'll resent you that much more for not only misrepresenting yourself, but also for making them go back and call people in again.

Don't feel like every answer needs to be twenty minutes of talking about yourself.  It's okay to be brief.

Don't answer every question in a way that sounds like you agree with or are sucking up to the interviewer.  Yes, you want to support their product...but anybody that I consider worth working for is looking for someone who's willing to inject a little of themselves into their project, rather than turning into a corporate-clone yes-man.

Avoid later misery by being yourself.

'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.'

Asking for all of the ways to mess up an interview does seem like it's begging for a thread that never ends.

I'll tell you a few things that surprised me. You can derive the inverse on your own.

Learn the corporate culture. My editors don't like to be 'Mr.' anything. Even fewer points for addressing correspondence to 'editor at XXX'. Similarly that should inform you on how to dress. In my experience, people in writing professions do it because of passion, not for the money, so making yourself personable to them in particular is critical.

Are you meeting with someone in person or just sending in a submission to the open call?

Talk about how much you love teamwork and to have colleagues to work with.  That always goes over better than the "loner."

Sending in a submission and a brief non-resume cover email about self. It's stage 1.

If they get a bunch of applications, they'll probably start culling them down to a more reasonable size.  The usual method is to first toss out all the applications that don't have a degree.  From then on, everyone has a degree and it won't really help you much anymore.  They they'll go through and toss all the applications that don't already have direct experience getting paid to do whatever it is the job entails.  Then they'll start actually looking through applications.

Spelling and grammar count !

Since you haven't told us really anything about the company or the job itself, it's hard to offer an opinion.

My guess is that you'll be writing from your own home office by contract (so words per minute or how you work will not be important) ? That is the usual way most writers start now. There is no overhead that way and they can hire fifty monkeys and see if any turn out a real piece of fiction (or whatever it is they are looking for).

All I can offer is pay attention to what they ask for and deliver THAT. Ask questions and be very clear about what they are looking for. If you think you should offer more, take it further, deviate from what they are looking for ... ask more questions.

In reply to Wyrm (msg # 1):

Having worked in publishing a bit (and, by a bit, I mean 7 months :P) I can't really add much more to what was said by the last two posters, except this: befriend a few authors and it will go a long, long way. You'd be amazed how much of the craft boils down to networking abilities. Also, you'd be amazed the doors that will open if you have an author whose at least well-established at the publishing company vouch for you.

Don't violate the style guides.

By which I mean, presumably the company has a manuscript style guide. "No italics" is a not uncommon entry in a style guide, as is general rules for what formatting they want in their manuscripts, and it's one of the easiest things to forget and make an error in because lots of places use very different style guides from one another. It's certainly tripped me up once or twice. But these places tend to be pretty strict about their style guides, and that can be the difference in an edge case where they can't quite decide whether to take you or someone else they also like.

I'm not a writer, but looking for a job right now so I have a bit of experience there.  I want to take something TheBaron said and go with it.

Going through the front door blows.  If someone throws out a call for submissions, and you blindly submit, your odds are pretty low.  If you can find a way to not just be a faceless submission, do that in a hurry.  In a professional job, working through HR is usually effective, as is emailing recruiters directly.  Connect directly with people and make them want to help you.  It'll open a whole lot more doors for you than blind submissions.  I've had this concept work for me three times in the last two months (including a second interview for one I really want next week and a third for one I don't really want the week after).

Of course, the above only gets you a shot.  You still have to deliver.

One thing not to be overlooked is the power of fan-made content.  I know several authors that started out writing fanfiction and several video game developers that started out producing mods .  If you're serious about making a career out of writing, then the best thing you can do is write.  A lot.

Oh, good point about style guides.  I prefer British or legal quotes.  That's where if it's a short thing before the end of a sentence, then the period goes outside the quotes because it's not part of the quote, "like this".  If you're quoting the end of a sentence then, "You put the period inside."  It's only American quotes that always puts the period inside the quotes, but if you're writing for people that market to Americans than you're probably going to have to use American quotes in your professional work.