Fair Wages
Since graduating college, I've only worked freelance rigging jobs, so I have very little experience working in a studio setting. When you don't interact with other artists except through email, you miss out on a lot of general info, like how much your work is actually worth. I'm thinking of going for a more steady job, but I don't want to misrepresent my skills or be taken advantage of. Does anyone have any info about what to charge based on various skill levels?
That makes total sense, and I know how you feel as these were my exact same thoughts while going through university. That being said, I can't really judge what's a fair wage as I firstly don't have enough experience and secondly, it's very arbitrary. Also, it's very much dependent on which part of the world you take a job in.
For the first few freelance gigs I'd suggest calculating how much money you'll ask for by calculating how much time you'd need to do the job and then multiplying it by a reasonable hourly rate. Depending on your experience that hourly rate can vary, but again, it depends on location, so compare it to what people doing similar line of work are getting paid. If you are doing a lot of coding for your rigs, then I'd suggest charging a fee similar to what a programming contractor would charge. After doing the first couple of jobs you will develop a much more realistic perspective of what your time/work is worth, so you will get better at putting a price on your services.
As for an actual company job, you could usually find information about wages on websites like glassdoor.
From the limited experience I have in the animation industry in London, I'd say people in our field tend to be incredibly friendly and I would be very surprised if they try to take advantage of an applicant.