N/A (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – January 5, 2019
Promotion from within is possible and probable for those on the "in" with certain Fools. Protected status and advancement galore for them. If you're not in the advancement cliques and known and favored by management then don't look for rapid advancement.
Coordinator (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – December 22, 2018
This was the WORST employment process, EVER! I've NEVER seen anything as dumb and immature in my life in the corporate world. They make you go through this "foolish" process answering dumb pre-screening questions that have NOTHING to do with the position just to tell you you're not qualified in a long drawn out foolish way. Such a waste of time! I won't even discuss the racist undertones of this company. Nevertheless, if you know you're not a "fool" don't even waste your time applying to be a fool!
Customer Service Representative (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – April 29, 2018
They are a great place and would still be there if my contract hadn't ended. Typical day would be answer phones, try to make "saves", emails. My supervisor was amazing!
Freelance Financial Blogger (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – April 13, 2018
Typical day at work is researching your next investment thesis, looking into the companies in that sector and developing a narrative to support your position.
Retention Specialist (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – February 21, 2018
The overall culture at Motley Fool is amazing. More companies should take a culture tour and see what it is that makes the work environment so great. This is a company that puts trust in it's employees and when you trust who you have working for them you treat them as an asset and can provide an atmosphere that doesn't feel like work at all. I love this job and if i were to ever relocate back to D.C. or Virginia I would only hope I'd be blessed to work there again
Pros
Culture, atmosphere, kind co workers and management, breaks, location, game room, nap room, omg everything
Member Service Representative (Current Employee) – Alexandria, VA – January 29, 2018
Great place to work in and the bosses are amazing. Some of the smartest, kindest, and most fun people I have ever known worked there. I learned so much about business, company culture and leadership. I use those skills every day, even years later.
Member Service Representative (Current Employee) – Alexandria, VA – January 25, 2018
Pros
Several years after I left I still regard my time at The Fool fondly. Some of the smartest, kindest, and most fun people I have ever known worked there. I learned so much about business, company culture and leadership . I use those skills everyday, even years later.
Cons
Not everyone belongs there forever. Sometimes as a natural part of career progression it’s time to move on. There can be frustration when people don’t see their next step within the company. Instead of acknowledging that and moving on there are hurt feelings.
Advice to Management
You’ve all been together a really long time. Be careful that you seek and respect external perspectives. I know you are constant learners and like to promote from within - keep that up, but also embrace diversity of leadership styles from outside.
Incredibly creative and resourceful founders; I was their first non-founder CEO.
Chief Executive Officer (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – October 8, 2017
The Motley Fool was (and still is) a very unique culture,which is positioned well in an industry not known for transparency and consumer education for individual investors.
Pros
Dogs in the office, Friday keg parties, hard working, dedicated, very smart people.
Cons
Heavy weight VCs, who were looking for an exit that never materialized.
Content Writer (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – June 5, 2017
This was a good writing experience. However, there were many unnecessary edits on articles, which didn't allow for maximum production. The editors wanted perfection, which is a positive, but the amount of detail requested is not what readers desire. The key to good content writing that drives significant traffic is to keep it simple, which targets a larger audience.
Toward the end of my experience, the majority of writers weren't allowed in to their CMS dashboard. We were all told it was due to technical difficulties. We were then all let go one week later. This was poor taste and could have been handled in a more professional manner. That said, I'm happy for my Motley Fool experience.
Anonymous (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – May 8, 2017
Managers Need more training. A lot of good people working at the Fool. Very cliquey. If you were in with the right crowd you got to enjoy benefits. If you had bad manager you were questioned about why you take benefits available to everyone.
Customer Service (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – December 19, 2016
Greatest place i've ever worked.I'd move to Virginia if i could work there again. The overall culture of this establishment is outstanding. Perfect first job.
IT Desktop Support/Technical Intern (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – May 4, 2016
-Setup and configure 10 new Lenovo and Dell desktop and laptop computers -Manage and update Lenovo and Dell desktop and laptop by scanning for viruses and updating software -Image 10 new PCs using Symantec Ghost Server software -Troubleshoot (solutions to fixing the problem) PCs
Analyst (Current Employee) – Alexandria, VA – March 12, 2015
A company with great benefits. I've learned that it is about politics and who you know. That is how you grow and move ahead. Product and services are at best pretty minimal. Do they really help the world invest better? They focus on membership count and will execute any path to attain that despite test and planning. Member service team is the least respected yet they shine this transparent light in an effort to send a weak message of collaboration. Major turnovers. There are people who do the least amount work, have big titles and are overpaid. The Motley Fool represents the cliche of all that glitter is definitely not gold.
Select Freelancer (Former Employee) – Telecommuting – December 1, 2014
This was a telecommuting job that trained well and allowed me to produce at my own pace. My articles were syndicated on Yahoo! Finance daily, and many of those articles were syndicated on that Yahoo! home page.
Investing Intern (Current Employee) – Alexandria, VA – August 18, 2014
Great company to work for. Excellent intern experience, specially within the investing team. Rigorous and ongoing learning from day one. Also, tons of activities for employees and amazing work-life balance options offered to employees.
Freelance Financial Writer (Current Employee) – Alexandria, VA – August 12, 2014
There's truly nothing like The Motley Fool headquarters, where the culture is treasured as the company's most precious asset, and rightly so. As long as you do your work and do it well, there are laid-back hours. Management is very visible and responsive, and my co-workers are some of the smartest people I've ever met. The hardest part of the job is formulating original, engaging and relevant content day-in and day-out, while the most enjoyable part of the job is the freedom and generally good-natured demeanor of fellow employees. Unfortunately the success of the business is woefully dependent upon several large factors outside its locus of control, which makes it quite vulnerable and somewhat unable (or unwilling) to form its own destiny.
Pros
Flexible work hours, company culture
Cons
No benefits for freelancers, the company changes directions quickly
Linux Engineer (Current Employee) – Alexandria, VA – November 30, 2013
By far the best place I've ever worked. Of course it's not perfect, but no place is. What makes it great though is I do at least believe the sincerity of "management." And you are treated, and expected to behave, like a responsible adult.
Web-Dev Tech Lead (Former Employee) – Alexandria, VA – June 14, 2013
Meetings in bean bags, nerf battles, foosball, and high tech software development. I learned an enormous amount from working with some of the smartest people I've ever met. Only downside was the internet bubble burst.