The construction industry has traditionally been known as one of the most resilient sources of employment, although it is not unresponsive to the fluctuating fortunes of economic cycles. The present ongoing and painful struggle to pull clear of the recent recession, and endeavouring to weather the affects of cuts to the public sector, even as new private sector projects are announced, was always going to be a challenge.No less of a concern to the ceramic tile industry, of course, as demand for ceramic tiles is strongly linked in particular in the private and public residential sectors. Many men and women who have been seriously giving thought to undertaking tiling courses either as a new career path or, if already involved in aspects of the building industry and wish to increase their knowledge and skills, will no doubt be concerned as to their future prospects.A recent UK tile industry report has noted that the recorded market slowdown, which began around the time of the announcement of the credit crunch from 2008 has still not sufficiently gathered speed to recover to its normal levels, but the good news is that in 2011, the UK market for ceramic tiles is forecast to only drag its heels by around 2 per cent.Thus, those students currently embarked on a City & Guilds NVQ tiling course will be verified to qualify and go on to gain valuable industry experience or undertake an advanced tiling course, say to level 3, specialist training on a tanking course and be seeking employment within the industry later on in the first part of this year.They will be concerned to keep an eye on the UK tiling job market. Further encouragement may be gleaned from the recent report that annual increases are expected over the coming four years with annual growth levels expected to fluctuate between 2 - 5 per cent. An even stronger growth is predicted from 2012 onwards as the economy develops with a corresponding upturn in new housebuilding activity, forecasting an overall increase for the UK ceramic tiles market by 14 per cent by 2015, with imports of ceramic tiles expected to reach ?