If you are successful in getting a job after university, whatever type of course you did, there will be a huge amount to learn. The most interesting is the new tools to learn. Other media students have it easy, as there are only so many photo or video editing techniques and pieces of software that students will go on to use in the real world of commercial development.
Therefore, experimenting with many different engines and creating actual finished games with them during university is of huge importance. Many students focus on one engine, often Unreal, but you need to be prepared in case certain engines or types of engines become unpopular in the real world. Or the companies using them go bust, as is the case these days.
Also, if you are prepared before and willing to stay a bit later during your first few months at a company then new tools will not be a problem. Often companies will have heavily modified engines or their own specifics tools for the games they develop. Therefore you will have to persevere and push through this challenge. As some of these developer tools may be for internal use only, the documentation will probably be lacking and the interface may be unfriendly. So it is up to you to get through without making too much trouble. You want to look positive and excited when starting, so it will be easy to get past your jobs probationary period. But never be afraid to ask questions about the new tools or development methods. This will show you are interested in establishing yourself at the company and will allow your skills to more quickly develop.
The always fun task of writing documentation will also change. While at university, students will be writing for people with knowledge of these subjects. While in a commercial setting you may be creating documentation for everyone from a publishers PR team, an external sound contractor or a financial partner. Using words or terms such as "gameplay" and "RTS" may be too difficult for them to understand. You may need to re-consider the way you write and read through everything, imagining you are not very knowledgeable about the games industry. Or if you are dealing with a company outside the industry, just write like they know nothing about computers. They may misinterpret something (sometimes on purpose!) and further along in the games development this may create problems for you and your company. So, you must be as clear as possible, and leave nothing to false interpretation.
If you are on a theory-heavy course and you are worried, stop worrying. Get out and active in the amateur community, send your resume to every company you can, bug your contacts for any work you can get and be honest to yourself about any holes in your skill set. If you do this, there is a great chance, even with this awful economy, that you will get a great job. Plus, you will have all the theory knowledge from university to enhance your influences as a game maker. Game courses are already breeding a new generation of game designers. I could never imagine something like Portal coming from a middle-aged, burnt out game designer. It is too fresh and ignores too many design stereotypes. I believe that as game courses develop, we will continue to see a new generation of really exciting game makers. I can't wait to see what else the new generation will come up with.
