First job....what was I thinking!?Follow

Hey guys. I'm a 17 THF, with THF as my first job. I was recruited by a friend and I have to say it's been quite a ride compared to WoW. Definitely seems more brutal in terms of soloing in the low levels and things take a lot longer than what I'm used to but I did read a couple of threads here and there about becoming an endgame THF and I'm definitely looking forward to it so long as I stick with FFXI. i like the fact that THF is such an active class to maintain and serve much needed utility in tough NM fights.

Basically, I was trying to find out if there's a guide I can follow on leveling since sync parties tend to sometimes not go so well. I've read the threads here and on other forums and it does not seem to be up to date and was wondering how much has changed since these guides from 04, 05, 06, 07 have been made. And if soloing really is not as viable, in what areas should I expect to sync party in as I level up?