About this fieldbook

First Month Fieldbook is an independent English-language publication for people beginning work in Tennessee state government. Our subject is the practical experience of getting oriented: understanding instructions, organizing questions, locating official information, and connecting self-service tasks with the people responsible for them.

We are not affiliated with the State of Tennessee, the Department of Human Resources, Edison, or any state agency. We do not operate an employee portal, authenticate employees, handle onboarding documents, or provide official HR support. References to Edison identify the state system discussed in our reporting, not a service we offer.

How we work

We use public official sources for state-specific facts and link to them in each guide. We distinguish those facts from our own planning suggestions and illustrative situations. Sources were reviewed November 13, 2026; menus, policies, and agency practices may change. Current official instructions and your agency’s guidance take precedence over an editorial article.

Our articles do not make individual eligibility, employment, legal, tax, or benefits decisions. We do not invent staff interviews, test employee accounts, or claim that a sample workflow applies to every appointment. If we cannot establish a detail, we direct the reader to the responsible official source rather than presenting a guess as a requirement.

Corrections

Send an article URL, the wording in question, and a public source that supports the correction to the publication’s editorial contact. Do not send personal records. We review corrections for factual accuracy and update the affected article when warranted. Publication of a correction request is not automatic, and this contact is not an urgent support channel.

Published by alex.