Abstract: To successfully compete in the 21st century, retailing must be able to attract, recruit and retain a competent workforce. Due to unprecedented growth in organized retailing, more management careers are available to young people than ever before yet retailers face obstacles in recruiting talented graduates due to perceptions that retailing offers a low quality of work-life. This study explored Malaysian undergraduates views of retailing as a career choice. A quantitative methodology, using responses given by 271 marketing students was employed in the analysis. The descriptive analysis revealed that students do not have a noticeably enthusiastic view of retailing. The factors associated with retailing as a career were mixed and include a variety of negative connotations. A comparison was made between the views expressed by three groups of students: Those who were intended to pursue retailing as a career, those who were definitely not doing so and those who were undecided. The results indicate that there was substantially more congruence between pro-retailing students perceptions of a preferred career and their perception of retailing than there were for the undecided and anti-retailing students. The results of this research suggest several implications for marketing educators and graduate recruiters.