Hilph,
I detect a note of elitism, not uncommon amongst professionals in the film industry, in your post. While I agree that his best chance of getting into the industry is via the runner/dogsbody route I would say that if you can learn a decent NLE and have talent you could edit with "professional" finesse. Sure you wont know all the tricks of the trade but in terms of flow and composition etc editing is a creative process and as such cannot be merely be taught or learnt, a life-time spent watching TV and movies with a critical eye will reveal all you really need to know - after that its down to individual talent.

Tonga