Prepare for the New Jersey Corrections Exam

The New Jersey Dept. of Corrections requires you to take EB Jacobs Law Enforcement Aptitude Battery (LEAB). This exam is also given as a police exam in various states across the U.S. This LEAB consists of  sections:

1. Cognitive Ability Test
2. Work Style Questionnaire
3. Life Experience Survey

If you are applying for a different position please see the main correctional officer page.

The cognitive ability section of the test is made up of roughly 50 multiple choice questions, approximately 2 hours, compromised from 6 different components:

1. Written Expression: When working in law enforcement it is important to be able to communicate effectively. You will be given passages and need to give the correct reply. Whether you’re speaking to colleagues or to inmates it is essential that your needs and orders be understood.
2. Written Comprehension: During training there will be a lot of reading and understanding the laws, rules and regulations. Furthermore, you will be given many written instructions, to understand which inmate needs specific care, etc. and if you do not understand what is needed it can turn to be dangerous.
3. Problem Sensitivity: One of the primary positions of a correction officer is to recognize conflicts. These can occur at all times, with so many inmates living in such close quarters 24/7.
4. Deductive Reasoning: Throughout your service you will be issued rules and regulations. In any scene you will need to understand what happened, and which rule applies to the scenarios you encounter.
5. Inductive Reasoning: There is no such thing as a standard scenario in law enforcement. You will be presented with scenarios and understand which laws are applicable to the current scene.
6. Information Ordering: Corrections officers deal with many lists during their service and therefore it is essential that you know how to order correctly all the information you are given.

The Work Style section of the corrections exam is a personality test, which assesses whether you have what it takes to be an NJ corrections officer. The most important personality traits are; being able to work well with others, handling stress effectively and assertiveness. There are around 100 questions on this section, which should take 45 minutes to answer.

The Life History section evaluates your past. The NJ Dept. of Corrections wants to know what others think about you, where you’ve worked, what you’ve done and get to know you as a person. There will be some aspects of a personality test here as well. The life history section contains about 70 questions, taking you about 45 minutes.

The LEAB is an NJ civil service test. Therefore it is given with the rest of NJ civil service test dates. It is important for you to get in touch with the Department of Correction New Jersey because the dates are still not set in stone.

There are many applicants for a relatively few available positions when it comes to working for Law Enforcement in New Jersey. All applicants are ranked according to test score and therefore it important for you to be ranked as high as possible in order to get the job that you want. Practice with our NJ Correction Officer preparation pack now.