Knowing how to navigate the Internet, blog and operate a BlackBerry is paying off for recent graduates.
A study released by Ball State University found 67 percent of companies were willing to pay employees with emerging media skills a starting salary one to 4 percent higher than those without. 23 percent said they were willing to pay new employees with these skills 5 to 8 percent more.
Alternatively, most employers are not spending money on training for current employees who are less aware of emerging media skills.
"This study helps to reinforce the emphasis on technology here," Bott said. "Those are valuable skills you are learning by being on a technology based campus. It supports Ball State's image of a technological powerhouse in emerging media. As we go forward, there will only be more technology."
Emerging media skills refer to e-mail, blogs, instant messaging, mobile computing and podcasts being integrated into the workplace.
Judy Lane, associate director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, said the results don't show that employers are unwilling to train existing employees, but the step hasn't been taken.
Lane said it may be because managers are unaware that emerging media skills require additional training. The study is the first step to bringing awareness to the problem, she said.
Jennifer Bott, research fellow at the CBER, said the report polled 170 human resources managers in Indiana. The majority of businesses included have been established for at least 20 years and specialized in professional fields of science and technology.
The study found 88 percent of organizations surveyed were using e-mail, making it the most frequently used media communication mode.
About 40 percent of respondents use mobile computing to bring work to and from home at least 20 percent of the time, Lane said.
She said 21 percent of participants were using interactive Web sites in the workplace at least 60 percent of the time.
Overall, executives felt these skills positively affected productivity, control of organizational messages and connectivity to customers, Bott said.
"These new media can create new ways to handle very traditional business problems," Lane said.
But she said these results raise questions about whether the increased use of emerging media skills is an advantage or not.
Bott said while companies have seen an increase in the use of emerging media skills, policies supporting them are lagging. She said this shows that companies are jumping on the technology bandwagon, but aren't setting parameters on the uses of these programs.
For students at Ball State involved in programs such as the Emerging Media Initiative, the implications of this study are positive, Bott said.
Sophomore Tabitha Parson said Ball State's digital portfolio process was one of the deciding factors when choosing a college. She said she is also familiar with Mac computer systems, iPods, blogging, Facebook and GPS.
"Everything now is computerized," Parson said. "It's beginning to be overrated. Every six months something new comes out and it's too expensive to keep up with."
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