Level 2 missions

The standings required for a given agent is

(agent level - 1) * 2 + quality level / 20

so, For a 2+7 agent you will need (2-1)*2 + 7/20 standings. That is 2.35 standings required with either the corp or the faction.

Connections can give a huge boost to the standings. If you intend to be a mission runner, connections is a critical skill to get up to a decent level.

Connections changes the effective standing to

S + (10 - S)*0.04C

Where 'S' is your standing and 'C' is your connections skill. If your unmodified standing is 1.00 the effective standing with connections 3 will become:

1.00 + 9*0.12 = 1 + 1.08 = 2.08

The effective standing increase becomes less pronounced at higher standings - at 8.00 standings it becomes:

8.00 + (10 - 8)*0.12 = 8.00 + 0.24 = 8.24

One other thing to consider is to not be 'stuck' to a system. There is nothing saying you have to remain in a given system. If you find that your next preferred agent is 5 or 20 jumps away - you can toss a few things in your hold and move out there for a bit.