The "employability" paradigm is beginning to be publicly regarded as one of the key developmental paths and "modernisation" principles of higher education institutions. In this context, the article first overviews the existing practices for tracking graduates' early careers in Europe. Next, it identifies and discusses relevant conceptual aspects for designing system(s) for tracking graduates' careers and using the results of graduate studies. This includes understanding and interpreting employability, possible societal tensions surrounding higher education when seeking to support the needs of graduates, employers or initiating new "professional projects", and the development of disciplinary assumptions about career success. Third, based on the results of a national survey among higher education institutions in Slovenia, it explores institutional views related to establishing systems for monitoring graduates' "employability". Understanding higher education institutions' attitudes and capacities towards monitoring the employability of their graduates is important for the success of tracking surveys in terms of their involvement in the collection of data, adapting the research instrument to reflect possible disciplinary particularities and the use of survey results. By combining the institutional perspective with the previously elaborated conceptual framework, the article calls on higher education stakeholders to support the strategic function of career monitoring systems for exploring new professional opportunities of graduates in the context of broader societal and economic developments.