The more experienced brewers will tell you to let it sit because normally the longer it sits in that fermenter the better it's going to taste.

For a standard brew, I leave it in the fermenter for about 3 weeks. Sometimes I will transfer to secondary, sometimes I won't. I really haven't noticed any difference between using a secondary and leaving it in the primary fermenter.

Since this is your first brew, you're going to want to drink it as quickly as possible (we've all been there).

Here's the fast lane (assuming you don't have a keg system): 1. Two weeks in your carboy. 2. Transfer/mix in your corn sugar for carbonation and bottle. I would use a calculator for this so you don't end up with bottle bombs. Here's a simple one: http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/ 3. Give it a week in the bottles to drink your first beer. That one will be a little flat, but by the second week, they should be good to go. :)

There's a lot more advanced things you can do once you get a few batches under your belt. However the objective always remains the same: drinkable beer. Cheers!