Actually the DS version has an additional class when you start out, being the Freelancer. The Onion Knight is gained later on as a class all unto itself.
To clarify this (because we're going around the houses here), every class has a set of fixed bonuses based on the character level. In other words, a Level 30 Black Mage will have exactly the same stats (baring Crystal sickness) as another Level 30 Black Mage, regardless of whether or not the job was recently taken, been used for a long time etc. So really, in terms of your base stats, only your Job and Level matter. However, each job also has a mastery associated with it. As this increases it will also increase the potency of your attacks, both physical and magic. So a person with a Class Level 20 Knight would do more damage at the same level with the same equipment than someone who had just recently switched classes.
EDIT: The one exception to this rule (at least in the NES version) was that your HP growth was based on the class you had selected when you levelled up. So characters who primarily use mages throughout the game will have noticeably lower HP than melee characters.
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