must complete your degree before you hit the job market!

There is a card which trumps education and that is a very strong portfolio. You can get a job with a strong portfolio and no degree, but you can't get one with a degree and no portfolio.

An education will help you hugely to get the skills, but talented people can get there on their own.

It's a mistake to think that "learning" a particular software package is the key. A lot of people can learn how to use software, but that doesn't make them competent modellers, animators or artists. I'm reasonably handy with a word-processor, but a best-selling novel would elude me.