You really want to avoid being the first, second or third to apply. Even though it is not intentional, unless the person receiving the applications and resumes has a system of reading them as they arrive and weeding out the candidates in piles entitled: "Yes, definately call", "they seem to have the right experience, but I need more information on skills", "they have the correct skills and almost enough experience but let me call and see if they are interested in something of a closer fit" and "No way in Hell on this Earth", a resume received at the very beginning tends to get put on the bottom of the huge stack.

The stack gets moved from place to place if more room is needed on the person's desk. And then moved back to the original spot at some time. In the interim, your resume may get misplaced or fall on the floor and picked up by the cleaning woman who thinks it is just ordinary paper trash.

But resume's that are received fourth to last, third to last, next to last or last are placed on the top of the pile and given the attention that they are deserving of.

Okay, so this is a little extreme. But, actually, yes the closer to the end of the announcement your resume is received the more attention it is paid. The same goes for interviews. Unintentionally, of course, the first person interviewed is generally the interview that all others are modeled after. Which is really unfair, if you think about it, because all interviews should be judged on the individual merits of the person being interviewed at the time.

In my opinion, if you feel really strongly about the position and/or company, find a phone number and ask if there is a ballpark figure for applications being accepted. A few times, I used the excuse that I did not have the finances at that particular time to fax my information and I was presented with an email address. Another time, I said that I didn't want to email from work, which was my only available computer, and did they have a particular timeframes as I wanted to send my cover letter and resume via postal mail. Each of these times, I not only received an alternate form of sending the resume, but was told the cut off date for resumes to be reviewed and when interviews were being scheduled.