You could be a linguistics professor, but some stupid goon at a Chinese university would ask if you have a TESOL certificate!

I have to agree, these certificates that can be had by most anyone who can afford to buy one are pretty useless. TESOL, TOEFL, they are generally not worth the paper they're printed upon. There just isn't any oversight, no standards that these companies have to meet that would guarantee that if you get one of their certificates that you will be qualified to teach this subject. Just pay the money, study online for a while, and get your certificate. Schools asking for such certificates is just another example of some of the useless nonsense that many Chinese schools will demand of a foreign teacher. On this agree.