Mages are a very fun class to play because they are quick paced and can be played a number of ways to great effect. Mages have a very high DPS and are considered very valuable in an raiding or PvP party. Mages are highly effective in five-man raids due to their ability to crowd control with sheeping and frost spells.
Some players think that the Mage is overpowered because warriors and other close range classes will have a very hard time getting close enough to inflict any damage to a Mage. However because Mages have light cloth armor they will perish quickly in hand to hand combat, this is a Mages biggest weakness along with spells that prevent them from casting.
Professions:
Most classes will select the crafting profession for their class such as warrior choose blacksmithing, it is no different for the Mage as he/she usually chooses Tailoring. The on difference with this class though is that Tailoring requires no secondary gathering profession such as mining to get materials as all Tailoring materials are dropped by humanoid mobs.
This leaves the Mage open to select a second Profession that has nothing to do with Tailoring. This can mean you have a second gathering profession you use to collect materials to sell at the AH or you can choose Enchanting which is the other profession designed for Mages. Enchanting goes well with Tailoring because you can disenchant items you create with tailoring and sell the materials you get from the items at the AH.
If you don't want to do the normal Mage class professions then you can do Herbalism and Alchemy as two professions allow you to collect herbs and plants and create potions that will temporarily increase your stats in battle. These two professions however will not make you much money because they are only temporary effects.
Abilities:
Mage Builds:
Frost:
Frost Mage's are built for survivability when faced with multiple opponents. A frost Mage can quite easy escape tight situations because they are able to freeze their opponents in place. A frost Mage is highly effective against close combat fighters such as warriors because frost Mage's can continue to attack from large distances without the warrior being able to get close.
To view the full Mage frost build visit
http://wow-stratagem.com/mage-guide
Arcane:
Arcane Mage's deal high amounts of instantaneous damage and use lasting affects to damage and hinder opponents.
To view the complete arcane build visit
http://wow-stratagem.com/wow-mage-guide
Fire:
Fire spells deal high amounts of damage a cause burns but each spell has a long casting time. Pyromancy is not recommended for soloing as if you are being attacked there will be a number of delays in spell casting. Pyromancy is good for raiding with parties and can be good for PvP if applied correctly.
In conclusion the Mage is a versatile character that can be played solo or in a raid party but is also highly effective in PvP.
I hope this wow Mage guide has helped clear some things up for you with your character.
Tip: have your different builds and worked out and your skills set up in tabs so you can quickly change between solo, raids and PvP.