Option 2: Research. If you are unable to conduct an interview with an individual working in an HR capacity, you may opt to complete this assignment by composing a report in response to the following questions which address the role of HR in today's workplace, the potential for career advancement via professional certifications, and how professional memberships can be of benefit to support the HR role. a.HR's Role. Explain the strategic role of human resources in today's workplace and its significance to an organization's competitive advantage. b.Professional Certifications. Identify at least two certifications that an HR professional might obtain; only one of the two may be the PHR, SPHR, or the GPHR (Professional in Human Resources, Senior Professional in Human Resources, or Global Professional in Human Resources, respectively). Write a paragraph for each certification with inclusion of the following: i.Describe the certification. ii.Explain why an HR professional might have interest in obtaining the certification. iii.Provide the eligibility requirements for taking the certification exam (e.g., work experience, education, and so forth). c.National and International Professional Memberships. Research at least two member organizations to which an HR professional might belong, one of which is to be SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management). Answer the following questions: i.Identify the professional membership organization and provide the website link. ii.Describe some of the benefits of becoming a member of the organization at the professional level and/or the student level. iii.What resources are found on the website that you personally would find especially beneficial as an HR professional. d.Local Professional Memberships. Most national and international professional member organizations have established local chapters. For this research segment, locate a local HR professional chapter in your area (e.g., SHRM - Society for Human Resource Management, ASTD - American Society for Training & Development), and answer the following questions. For example, to find a local chapter of SHRM near you, go to the following web link: http://www.shrm.org/Communities/SHRMChapters/Pages/default.aspx i.Identify the selected local chapter near you and provide a brief overview of its purpose and functionality. Include a direct website link to the local chapter web page. ii.Explain why an HR professional might want to belong to this chapter. Be as specific as possible, with potential inclusion of the website findings. 2.For this option, you are required to use a minimum of two outside references, in addition to the textbook and the websites researched. The outside references may only include: a) articles from peer-reviewed journals, b) articles from popular journals or credible newspapers (e.g., Time, Business Week, Wall Street Journal), or c) white papers/research conducted by SHRM, ASTD, or World at Work. No blog sites or webs pages are to be used. 3.The paper should be written as a professional report with an introduction, conclusion, and APA headings for each of the questions, as identified in bold above. Do not include the questions in the paper. There should be a minimum of one paragraph with a proper heading for each question. The individual paper is to be written in APA 6e style with proper mechanics (i.e., sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling). A title page and reference page are required, in addition to the paper length of 600-900 words. 4.Before submitting the assignment, thoroughly edit the paper for APA formatting and mechanics. Be sure all requirements have been met - as shown in the workshop document and the rubric. 5.When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy to your instructor using the Dropbox by the end of the workshop