Though I also have a formal Computer Science background I have never had a job that used the same computing platform or programming languages we used in school.

In every case the job required OJT, which for the most part was access to the computer and the vendor's reference manuals. Along the way I was offered vendor training here and there, mostly in the form of 4 to 5 day classroom training. In no case was this ever training in a programming language, which was typically just assumed as a prerequisite.

I believe success is determined by your ability to read and comprehend written material and then follow this up with creative experimentation. This primarily means reading manuals, but it also requires reading code written by others.

The nature of some questions in programming forums sometimes makes me feel despair. So many of these questions would never be asked if the poster had ever read through the manual. One can only wonder if they try driving long trips without looking over maps first too. They must find unanticipated detours somewhat frightening.