Ask HN: What do companies really look for when hiring?

Ok, a whole lot of companies form start-ups to big giant conglomerates say they are always looking for the best and brightest in the field.

In reality, except for a very small percentage of those, most of these companies aren't. If they were, there would be a lot more smarter people in those companies.

Which comes to my question, what exactly is their hiring criteria? What are they looking for?

From my point of view, it seems like hiring is mostly politics and less about your ability to do stuff.

What do you guys think?