Veterans preference is ranking, not points
In New Jersey, veterans preference changes where you sit on the list, not your score. How it works on open competitive and promotional lists.
In New Jersey, veterans preference changes where you sit on the list, not your score. How it works on open competitive and promotional lists.
Chapters
Transcript
Many people think veterans preference adds to your exam score. The rules say otherwise. Preference changes your place on the list, and your score stays your score.
On an open competitive list, disabled veterans who pass go to the top, in order of their scores. Veterans come right after them. Then everyone else.
The rule gives its own example. John Green scores 90 and isn't a veteran. Robert Brown, a disabled veteran, scores 80. Robert ranks first. John ranks third, behind Robert and two veterans tied at 85.
Order matters at the appointment too. When veterans are certified from an open competitive list, the employer has to appoint them in their order of ranking.
Promotions work differently. The list runs by score, and veterans go first only within a tie. But if a veteran is at the top of the certification, the employer can't appoint a non-veteran unless it shows cause.
Preference runs from a determination by the Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. To count on a list, it has to come at least eight days before the list is issued.
The full rules are in our veterans preference guide on NJ Civil Service Navigator.
The data in this video
This video states no figures of its own. What it says comes from the rules quoted below, read in full before the script was written.
Rules quoted in this video
shall be placed at the top of the employment list in the order of their respective final scores.
shall be placed on the employment list in order of their respective scores immediately after disabled veterans.
John Green (NV) 90 Robert Brown (DV) 80 1 Charles Black (V) 85 Charles Black (V) 85 2 Mary White (V) 85
Robert Brown must receive the first appointment.
the appointing authority shall appoint the disabled veteran or veteran in the order of ranking.
However, when scores are tied, the names of veterans shall be listed first within each rank.
a nonveteran shall not be appointed unless the appointing authority shall show cause before the board why a veteran should not receive such promotion.
Veterans or disabled veterans preference shall apply prospectively from the date of the initial determination of the Adjutant General
no later than eight days prior to the list's issuance date.
Read more on the site
More videos
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- How a NJ civil service job gets filled (1:37)
- How NJ salary steps work (1:42)
- Reading your exam results and your list (1:21)
- What the Civil Service Commission decides (1:37)
How this video was made
The script was written from the rules and the data the site publishes, checked against them, and approved before narration. Every figure on screen and in the narration is read from a data file at render time rather than typed, so the video and this page state the same numbers. The narration is synthetic speech generated on our own computer; the captions are timed to it word by word. First published November 8, 2026. An independent reference, not the Civil Service Commission.
Sources read for this video:
- N.J.A.C. 4A:5-1.3 (data/njac-4a/sections.json), site page /regulations/4a-5-1-3
- N.J.A.C. 4A:5-2.1 (data/njac-4a/sections.json), site page /regulations/4a-5-2-1
- N.J.A.C. 4A:5-2.2 (data/njac-4a/sections.json), site page /regulations/4a-5-2-2
- N.J.S.A. 11A:5-4 (data/njsa-11a/sections.json), site page /statutes/11a-5-4
- N.J.S.A. 11A:5-5 (data/njsa-11a/sections.json), site page /statutes/11a-5-5
- N.J.S.A. 11A:5-6 (data/njsa-11a/sections.json), site page /statutes/11a-5-6
- N.J.S.A. 11A:5-7 (data/njsa-11a/sections.json), site page /statutes/11a-5-7
- data/njac-4a/sections.json (4A:5-2.1 bodyText, example table in (c))