Playing loads of WoW? It gives you skills. Levelling skills, credit-card-paying skills, mad social interaction skillz. It's also going to give you the skills to make it to the top of the corporate ladder, according to a study conducted by IBM and business communication researchers Seriosity.

What we've found is that success as a business leader may depend on skills as a gamer. Smart organizations are recognizing valued employees who play online games and apply their skills and experiences as virtual leaders to their 'real world' jobs.

Hear that? You don't need school. Degrees are for suckers. Just keep on levelling up that Paladin, you'll get the big promotion soon enough.

Virtual Worlds, Real Leaders [IBM/Seriosity, via Next-Gen]