Best if you have blank sided vinyl. Put needle on middle of 12" side and if it stays where it is supposed (without groove), then it is pretty much ok. Needle weight should be according to default on your turntable. Most "hi-fi" turntables use less weight than DJ turntables.
Skipping most likely suggests too little weigh. Unless you REALLY overdo it, it's hard to ruin vinyl with just couple grams of weight, so more damage can be done with light weight tonearm which starts to jump and make scratches over vinyl surface.