I suggest starting out with five squires. Why? This way you can learn squire abilities faster. (Ever notice that if you, say, have a chemist, your non-chemist people seem to gain chemist job points?) And use Item as your secondary command, everyone should start with the Potion ability. Master the Squire class as fast as you can. Throw Stone is an ability you'll need early on. Sure, it's weak, but it allow you to attack form a distance and avoid the counterattacks of early monsters.

Then learn Gained JP up ASAP, and Accumulate. And Move+1. The added range of your characters will give you more options in the battlefield (don't hesitate to get Battle Boots either).Counter Tackle sounds nice as it's your first potential counterattack, but it can wait.

Then take someone with high Faith and make them a Wizard, not a Priest. Early on they will tear people up. People with high Brave ratings should serve as the physical classes, like Knights, Monks, maybe Archers/Thieves (the non-magic classes). If you have a retarded troop who has low ratings in both fields, just make him a Chemist and let him be the healer. Once you master Squire class the game becomes a breeze. But make sure you get to level 8 (max) Squire with everyone, because you can actually master Squire class at level 7.