When recruiters knock a search out of the park, they return with a host of qualified candidates. In theory, this is the ideal scenario: a new employee is going to get hired, and it’s going to be someone with talent.

Yet at the same time, this can pose quite the conundrum. If there are two equally qualified candidates, how does a hiring manager choose? What is the deciding factor? GPA? A coin flip? Feats of strength?

Thankfully, there is not just one aspect that employers consider when making a new hire. They look at a number of different factors to ensure that they’ll bring the best possible person into their organization. Knowing how expensive making a bad hire is, you can bet that businesses will do their due diligence before they make a final decision.

Below you will get a glimpse into the competitive world of hiring and discover the ways by which managers decide between two equally qualified candidates.

They Keep Cultural Fit in Mind

We’ve discussed in the past how important cultural fit is to organizations, and it bears repeating. New employees need to embody the values of their company and be committed to its mission. If they’re not, animosity between coworkers may develop, and morale will take a hit. To test cultural fit, hiring managers may bring candidates in for group interviews to see how they gel with their prospective coworkers, or ask certain personality questions to gauge what type a person they may soon be hiring. They may even bring someone in for a “360-degree assessment,” in which a candidate engages with not only coworkers, but clients and suppliers as well.

Cultural fit is a two-way street, however. The image that companies present as their culture or atmosphere will be double-checked by candidates, as 62% of candidates look at a company’s social media pages to ensure that they practice what they preach.

They Consider Mission Critical Skills

If a hiring manager narrows their search down to a couple of equally qualified candidates, they generally examine the two resumes with a closer eye to see what balance of skills each has. While both may be impressive, most of the time the role is better suited to one of the two. When considering particular skills, 36% of employers look for multitasking; 31% look for initiative; 21% look for creative thinking; and 12% look for something else in the candidate.

They Offer Them the Job

Sometimes, hiring managers have no other choice but to offer the job and measure how enthused each candidate is about the opportunity. They can ask each potential hire about any hurdles that would get in the way of them accepting the position, and how they would overcome said hurdles. Surprisingly, 56% of all employers reported that a candidate rejected their job offer in 2012, so there’s a decent shot that at least one of the two will turn down the offer.

They Go With Their Gut

It’s not very scientific, and there’s no formula to back it up, but sometimes hiring managers will just go with their gut when choosing between two candidates.

“We tend to have those ‘spidey senses’ that help in determining whom may be a better fit,” said Jake Wyant, director of Staffing and Capacity Planning at Avaap, a global IT services provider. “Sometimes it is as simple as someone being more pleasant or easier to work with during the interview process that can make the difference.”

Hiring managers may place more emphasis on certain factors, such as GPA, known languages, or even how each candidate answered a certain question. Personal preference also plays a role, as one hiring manager would perhaps choose differently than another. But barring any cronyism, companies will consider many factors, including all the ones listed above, before pulling the trigger on one of two equally qualified candidates.