After completing his master’s degree in health administration at Washington University in St. Louis, Mark Brostoff was not ready to “come out of the closet,” so he joined the U.S. Navy.

Tuesday evening Brostoff led a workshop titled “Gay Lives, Straight Jobs” for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

Brostoff was not ready to be openly gay, and the Navy has a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. It offered advancement for an ambitious gay person who was not ready to come out, Brostoff said.

After a 20-year tenure in the Navy, Brostoff retired. He revealed his sexual orientation in October 2002 because he felt part of him was missing, he said.

Because of his experience, Brostoff said he feels he has something to offer the gay community. He is the associate director of Undergraduate Career Services at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

“You have to do what is comfortable,” Brostoff said.

Brostoff’s main message was about learning to make the inevitable transition from the campus environment to the workplace environment as comfortable as possible.

For this reason, Brostoff came up with a system of categorizing students based on the level of comfort when it comes to sexual orientation.

For the “A” students, who are more open about their sexuality, Brostoff advises they research LGBT-friendly employers on the Internet and evaluate anti-discrimination policies for language specific to sexual orientation.

For the “B” students, who are somewhat open about their sexuality, he suggests they lean toward LGBT-friendly employers but keep their options open about other companies, Brostoff said.

The “C” students, who are highly private about their sexuality, should not have a preference when it comes to an employer.

Brostoff advises LGBT students to self-assess.

“Know your goals, who you are and what you want to become,” he said.

Doing research about potential employers is important because it helps mitigate stress, Brostoff said.

When it comes to résumés, “word smithing” can help “B” students on their résumés. For example, a LGBT student who has organizational experience with a group such as Prism could play up skills learned without disclosing the organization’s nature.

Brostoff cautioned that one’s sexual orientation should not be the focus of one’s résumé or interview.

Senior accountancy major Andrea Drott is nervous about revealing her sexual orientation to potential employers.

She said she the workshop was helpful and reassuring because she considers herself an “A” student and wants to be open about her sexuality.

For more information about sexual orientation and decision-making, contact the LGBT Resource Center at 753-5428 or Career Services at 753-1641.