Recruiting firms

Staffing firms that place students

A staffing firm does not need to sponsor you to hire you. It employs you and places you with its client, so a student on post-completion OPT can work through one on their own work authorization. These are 38 of the largest and most established firms in the US, with their candidate job boards and the email pattern their staff use.

How they get paid

The client company pays the firm a fee or an hourly margin. A recruiter earns when you get placed, which is why a message saying you are available and placeable right now gets a reply, and a message admiring the company does not.

Contract is normal here

Most of these roles are contract or contract-to-hire rather than permanent. That is not a lesser job. A six-month contract at a Fortune 500 client is real US experience, and many convert.

Work several at once

Registering with five firms is normal and expected. The one rule: never let two firms submit you to the same client. A double submission usually gets you removed from consideration at that client entirely.

Before you sign anything

A real staffing firm never charges you

Every firm on this page is paid by its client. If someone asks an international student for money, for training fees, resume marketing, a placement deposit, a share of your future salary, or a payment to be kept “on the bench” between projects, that is not a staffing firm doing normal business. Walk away. Legitimate recruiters also will not ask for your SEVIS ID, passport scan or bank details before an offer exists.

One thing to check on your own timeline

Staffing works on OPT. STEM OPT is stricter.

Post-completion OPT. Placement at a client site through a staffing firm is allowed for the first 12 months.

STEM OPT extension. The employer who signs your I-983 has to provide the training at its own worksite, so third-party client placement generally does not qualify. A staffing role can stall you at month 12.

CPT. Many schools reject third-party placements outright. Ask your DSO before you accept, not after.

Confirm your own case with your DSO. This is a summary, not legal advice.

The firms

Pick a field to narrow the list. Every job link goes to the firm’s candidate job board, not its internal careers page.

38 of 38 firms

  • TEKsystems

    part of Allegis Group

    Hanover, MD · Contract, Contract to hire

    The largest IT staffing firm in the US. Huge contract volume with banks, insurers and health systems.

    Email pattern

    Conflicting evidence

    Aggregators report flast, but sister Allegis brands also use a truncated first-three-plus-last-five form. Verify before sending.

  • Insight Global

    Atlanta, GA · Contract, Contract to hire

    Note the mail domain is .net, not .com. Mail to insightglobal.com will not reach a recruiter.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Apex Systems

    part of ASGN

    Richmond, VA · Contract, Contract to hire

    Mail goes to apexsystemsinc.com even though the website is apexsystems.com.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Randstad USA

    part of Randstad

    Atlanta, GA · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Randstad Digital runs the technology desk; the general desk covers finance, admin and light industrial.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address the company published in its SEC filings.

  • Kforce

    Tampa, FL · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Technology and finance or accounting desks only. No light industrial.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Robert Half

    San Ramon, CA · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Strongest in accounting and finance. Protiviti is its consulting arm and hires new graduates directly.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • The Judge Group

    Wayne, PA · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Broad desk coverage: IT, healthcare, engineering, manufacturing and life sciences.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Collabera

    Basking Ridge, NJ · Contract, Contract to hire

    Large enterprise IT contracts, heavy in banking and telecom.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Motion Recruitment

    Boston, MA · Contract, Direct hire

    Specialist tech recruiting organised by city desk. Parent of Jobspring and Workbridge.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Dexian

    McLean, VA · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Formed from the DISYS and Signature Consultants merger. One of the largest minority-owned staffing firms in the US.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Eliassen Group

    Reading, MA · Contract, Contract to hire

    Strong in the Northeast, with life sciences and clinical consulting desks.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address published on the company's own website.

  • Beacon Hill Staffing Group

    Boston, MA · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Divided into specialty units: Technologies, Financial, Legal, Life Sciences and HR.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Mastech Digital

    Pittsburgh, PA · Contract, Contract to hire

    Publicly traded IT staffing firm with a data and analytics practice.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address the company published in its SEC filings.

  • Artech

    Morristown, NJ · Contract, Contract to hire

    One of the largest women- and minority-owned IT staffing firms in the US.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Compunnel

    Plainsboro, NJ · Contract, Contract to hire

    Large contract volume. Also runs a healthcare staffing arm.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • LanceSoft

    Herndon, VA · Contract, Contract to hire

    The pattern is less consistent here than at most firms, so verify this one before sending.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • US Tech Solutions

    Jersey City, NJ · Contract, Contract to hire

    Unusually, first name alone is the most common pattern. Verify, and fall back to first.last.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Genesis10

    New York, NY · Contract, Contract to hire

    Domestic-only delivery model, heavy in financial services.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • CyberCoders

    part of ASGN

    Irvine, CA · Direct hire

    Permanent placement only, so no contract roles. Each recruiter works a named niche.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Intelliswift

    part of LTIMindtree

    Newark, CA · Contract, Contract to hire

    Bay Area base with semiconductor and big-tech client contracts.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Experis

    part of ManpowerGroup

    Milwaukee, WI · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    The professional and IT brand inside ManpowerGroup.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Parent ManpowerGroup addresses in SEC filings are consistently first.last, and Experis follows the same convention.

  • Akkodis

    part of Adecco Group

    Jacksonville, FL · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Formed from Modis and AKKA. Genuine engineering and embedded desks, not just IT.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address published on the company's own website.

  • Yoh

    part of Day & Zimmermann

    Philadelphia, PA · Contract, Contract to hire

    Aerospace, defence and life sciences desks alongside IT.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Adecco Staffing USA

    part of Adecco Group

    Jacksonville, FL · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    The mail domain is adeccona.com, not adeccousa.com.

    Email pattern

    Conflicting evidence

    The adeccona.com domain is confirmed from the company's own site. The pattern itself is aggregator-reported only.

  • Kelly Services

    Troy, MI · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Kelly Engineering and Kelly Science are separate desks worth approaching directly.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address the company published in its SEC filings. Older staff may still use an underscore or a truncated form.

  • Aston Carter

    part of Allegis Group

    Hanover, MD · Contract, Contract to hire

    The business and finance professional brand at Allegis, sister company to TEKsystems.

    Email pattern

    Conflicting evidence

    An address on the company's own site uses a truncated first-three-plus-last-five form, while aggregators report flast. Both are in use.

  • Michael Page

    part of PageGroup

    New York, NY · Direct hire

    Permanent placement. The mail domain is the short page.com.

    Email pattern

    Conflicting evidence

    michaelpage.com is confirmed live from the company's own site; aggregators also report the shorter page.com. Try michaelpage.com first.

  • Aerotek

    part of Allegis Group

    Hanover, MD · Contract, Contract to hire

    Industrial, manufacturing and skilled trades. Engineering moved to Actalent.

    Email pattern

    Conflicting evidence

    Aggregators report flast, but sister Allegis brands also use a truncated first-three-plus-last-five form. Verify before sending.

  • Actalent

    part of Allegis Group

    Hanover, MD · Contract, Contract to hire

    The main engineering and sciences desk in the Allegis group. The mail domain is the unusual act.services.

    Email pattern

    Conflicting evidence

    The domain is confirmed from the company's own site. Allegis brands run both flast and a truncated first-three-plus-last-five form, so check this one carefully.

  • Oxford Global Resources

    Beverly, MA · Contract

    Uses an underscore, not a dot. High-skill niche contract work.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Belcan

    part of Cognizant

    Cincinnati, OH · Contract, Direct hire

    Aerospace, defence and automotive engineering. One of the few genuine engineering desks at scale.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • AMN Healthcare

    Dallas, TX · Contract, Direct hire

    The largest healthcare staffing firm in the US, with allied and non-clinical desks as well as nursing.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address the company published in its SEC filings.

  • Cross Country Healthcare

    Boca Raton, FL · Contract, Direct hire

    The pattern is inconsistent across the company, so verify this one carefully.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address the company published in its SEC filings. Both the domain and the pattern differ from what the aggregators report.

  • Medix

    Chicago, IL · Contract, Contract to hire

    Healthcare, life sciences and health-IT desks. Good for non-clinical roles.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Aya Healthcare

    San Diego, CA · Contract, Direct hire

    The largest travel-nursing firm, with allied health and non-clinical corporate roles too.

    Email pattern

    Conflicting evidence

    Company filings show both flast and first.last in active use. Try flast first.

  • Conexus MedStaff

    Houston, TX · Direct hire

    Built specifically around international nurses and medical technologists, so the international-graduate conversation is one they have every day.

    Email pattern

    Unconfirmed

    Reported by public email-pattern aggregators. Not confirmed at source, so verify before sending.

  • Vaco

    part of Highspring

    Nashville, TN · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Accounting, finance and technology. Rebranded under Highspring.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address the company published in its SEC filings.

  • Addison Group

    Chicago, IL · Contract, Contract to hire, Direct hire

    Finance, technology, HR and healthcare desks across about 25 US markets.

    Email pattern

    Verified at source

    Confirmed from an address published on the company's own website.

About the email patterns

What the labels mean, and why they matter

Verified at source (10). Derived from an address the company itself published, either in an SEC filing or on its own website.

Conflicting evidence (7). Sources disagree, or the company demonstrably uses more than one form. Check these before you send.

Unconfirmed (21). Public pattern aggregators agree, but nothing from the company confirms it. Treat as a starting guess.

A pattern is not an address. It tells you how a firm builds addresses, so once you find a real recruiter’s name you can work out the likely address and confirm it. Patterns also go stale after mergers and rebrands, which is why several firms here mail from a domain that is not their website.

How to turn a pattern into a real contact

  1. 1. Find a live req on the firm’s job board and apply through it first. That puts you in their applicant system, which is how recruiters search for people.
  2. 2. Find the recruiter who posted it, or a recruiter on that firm’s desk for your field, on LinkedIn. Use their real name, not a guess.
  3. 3. Build the address from the pattern above, then verify it before sending rather than firing off a guess. A bounce costs you nothing; ten bounces from one domain can get your address filtered.
  4. 4. Reference the specific req number in the first line. It is the difference between a cold email and a candidate follow-up.

Read next

How to approach a staffing recruiter

What to put in the first message, the four things every recruiter needs from you, and the mistakes that quietly get you dropped.

Read the guide →

Patterns shown are company-wide conventions, formatted as firstname.lastname and similar. This page does not list individual recruiters or their addresses.