That's.. actually a really common way of going about things, I've found.
The thing is you have to be willing to "find a reason" for your character to join if you OOCly have interest in a group. They're generally not just going to pick you up off the street. You usually can apply OOCly to the guild in question and then just discuss your character's recruitment OOCly with the leaders there. Set up a meeting that will lead to them being hired, or recruited despite them not actively seeking employment or membership. Hopefully that's the only thing you'll ever have to really set up, but joining a group isn't always easy without OOC coordination.
Browse the Linkshell tab above to see some RP FCs. Not all are listed, so check tags of ones you run into in game and see too!
The thing is you have to be willing to "find a reason" for your character to join if you OOCly have interest in a group. They're generally not just going to pick you up off the street. You usually can apply OOCly to the guild in question and then just discuss your character's recruitment OOCly with the leaders there. Set up a meeting that will lead to them being hired, or recruited despite them not actively seeking employment or membership. Hopefully that's the only thing you'll ever have to really set up, but joining a group isn't always easy without OOC coordination.
Browse the Linkshell tab above to see some RP FCs. Not all are listed, so check tags of ones you run into in game and see too!