Battle Hardened, or Soon to Be...

     If you're dream is to become a crusty, scarred PvP pilot then fear not; you don't have to spend years in training to make a valuable contribution to fleets.  One of the most important parts of any fleet is the "tackler."  This player (or group of players if possible) is responsible for getting as close to the target as possible and disrupting their warp engines.  The great thing about this role is that a new player can do this without too much training.  The key ingredients to being a tackler are speed and the ability to fit Warp Disruptors.

      Speed is very important as you must stay close to the target to keep them from escaping, it will also help keep your smaller ship alive while you orbit the enemy with as much speed as possible.  Very often you will find that the enemy cannot hit you if they are in a large ship.  Some of the skills you may need:

To go faster:

• High Speed Maneuvering (makes MicroWarpDrives work better)
• Evasive Maneuvering
• Navigation

Warp Disrution:

• Propulsion Jamming (the required skill)
• Signature Analysis (helps you target the enemy faster) this is a big one for tacklers
• Long Range Targeting (not really required but handy)

     Beyond these basics you will most likely want to train up the racial weapons systems to match the race of your favorite ships:

Gallente - Hybrids and Drones

Caldari - Hybrids and Missiles

Amarr - Energy Weapons (with very occasional Missiles)

Minmatar - Projectile Turrets and Duct Tape

     Once you get out with a fleet you will get a feel for the other ships being flown and will hopefully see something you like. 
     However, before moving on from this point I would like to advise that any new player take some time to train their support skills, chief among these being the learning skills, followed by ship support skills. Your learning skills will allow you to learn new (and exciting) skills much faster as you progress in EvE and will benefit you for the remainder of your career. The ship support skills will also benefit you for a long time and will help you become better at flying every ship, including the ones you are already in.
     EVEMon will help by suggesting the learning skills that can speed up your training in the bottom lefthand corner (click on the link). It can also help you with your ship support skills. You may want to consider learning the first level of all the "Core" certificates under EVEMon's "Certificates" tab (right click to add to queue).