What he said^^
But to elaborate... Being a luthier is mostly about experience. A luthier will do different things for different companies. If you're working at a local shop or a guitar repair place you will probably have to be very well rounded in acoustic and electric guitar repair and maintenance. If you're planning on getting into a Custom Shop you'll have to learn those skills PLUS you'll have to be very very very good at them... Most Custom Shop luthiers are very experienced and have been exposed to that in their careers. However, once you reach the point of being a custom shop luthier you'll probably concectrate on whatever you're adept at. For example, you might just do repairs and neck set-ups... or you might just do finish and paint work... or you might just assemble guitars and not do any repairs whatsoever. It depends on you and the company... The luthiers that work in Custom Shops are usually the luthiers that a certain company trust and they're usually the individuals with the most experience making/working on on a certain guitar. The best route to being hired by a big time guitar manufacturer is to contact the manufacturer and see what luthier schools they recommend you go to. That can be difficult though since they most likely won't reply or they will simply send you a bunch of literature about thier guitars. Look around for some schools in your area... if you're in the California area or very serious about being hired by Fender I would suggest the Guitar Craft Institute at The Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. Thats where I was planning on going for a long time but since then I have had other good oppertunities in my area of college studies. Hope this helps explain a little