Students and LinkedIn- Essential or Waste of time

 I have been a LinkedIn member for quite some time (See my profile here). So when my college going son asked me whether he should create his own Linked In Profile, I paused and then thought - What the heck - there is no harm in creating a profile.

More I thought about it, more I started feeling that all student SHOULD have a LinkedIn profile. Here is why:

1. As they more towards professional life at the end of the college years, a better understanding of the networking tools will be a value add 
2. It gives him an opportunity to connect with his teacher and mentors. Getting their feedback (which is hopefully positive !) will help him as he starts applying for Internships 
3. It also gives the prospective companies, a place to find more about him and helps him differentiate from the other applicants who might not have a smart Dad like me :-)
4. Finally, it allows him to show case the voluntary work he has done and other achievements 

Overall, I think it should be become mandatory for students to start creating their LinkedIn Profiles (Everybody seems to have a Facebook Profile). What do you think? 

Raghavan (Raj) Rajendran