There has always been and will forever be a greater flurry of activity during the hours leading up to 31st July than in any other period in the year - that includes the July/August rush to flee the motherland and 24th December christmas shopping.
Getting applications out before the great deadline date is a sport; as in football, as in tennis, as in hockey, as in basketball, as in etc etc, the dying moments of a game are crucial. There are of course many firms which recruit on a rolling basis which can make 'delayed' applications futile. But there are so many which don't.
The doubts that stream into your soul around this time become trifling; will a late application be consigned to the shredder? Who cares. I'm rolling the dice, and the more times I roll, the greater chance of snake eyes! [If only it were that simple]. Most people I know who have a TC tell me they sent out anything between 20 and 100 applications before they landed one. Sending out 100 quality applications sounds near impossible let alone paradoxical. But the message i'm receiving is that I should use all the time i'm prepared to use to apply. Moreover, I should use all the time i'm given to apply- this includes the hours leading up to 31st July.
So there it is. 31st July- one day they'll make a film about it. Oh, the tales it would tell.
