There are still guilds that are recruiting, be sure to check announcements here at gwguru too. Or check places previously mentioned, there sure are people who are willing to help.
Get familiriased to game mechanics and pay attention to how different skills work. So it´s easier to come up with combinations that work well. Or if you aren´t experimenting type of person, be sure to check pvx wiki
http://www.gwpvx.com/Main_Page for working builds. Even if you don´t have all the skills, you can get some ideas for your own builds there.
If you are considering playing Guild Wars 2 when it´s out, you could consider getting some titles and such stuff also as they give you some (cosmetic) rewards in the sequel. Doing bonus objectives of the missions is good way to start gathering titles.
Managing time is matter of preference, of course. If you like doing some exploring, do some secondary quests besides the primary ones, they take you to places one wouldn´t otherwise go and they give some gold, exp and skills too. If you want to gather quicky money for your new armor set and other gear, you could play the storyline quickly through and get familiarised to the economy and farming to make things go smoother.