i'd say the best thing to do as a newbie, besides befriending an experienced player, to look stuff up like jobs on weststats.com, and check out the character classes. figure out what you want your build to be early on in the game. character class quests, character bonuses, and the jobs you want to be able to do are very important.
you'll get to being able to do a job faster if you add skills to a skill that is doubled in that job. i'd suggest high exp. jobs, cause the higher your level, and the more skill points you have, the more money you earn.
and if you want to be a constructor (lots of high exp. job), then beware of dueling - many builders complain about it.