It depends on what you like to do. I thought the mining was a grind to begin with. Had no clue how to do it. Recluse helped me figure it out. In the end it wasn't so bad. Driving around in an SRV makes me crazy after an hour or two.

I'm combat oriented. I like it. Trade, I can do it but the rinse and repeat makes me nuts. A shame because trade, passenger missions are quick money makers. At this point I don't care about money and I'm a medium ship type of guy.

Engineers to do first;
Elvira Martuuk,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,FSD , Shield Gen , Thrusters
Felicity Farseer,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,FSD , Shield Booster , Thrusters

Something ya need to start doing is scooping up all materials 3 class and above for making your mods. You can use the traders to swap materials for what you actually need.

Wingy