diff --git a/helm/schedulerservice/templates/deployment.yaml b/helm/schedulerservice/templates/deployment.yaml
index 71a829f..dd81eb3 100644
--- a/helm/schedulerservice/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/helm/schedulerservice/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -32,18 +32,24 @@ spec:
         {{- toYaml .Values.podSecurityContext | nindent 8 }}
       {{- if .Values.externalDatabase.host }}
       initContainers:
-        - name: wait-for-mysql
-          image: busybox:1.36
+        - name: wait-for-mysql-init
+          image: mysql:5.7
           command:
             - sh
             - -c
             - |
-              echo "Waiting for MySQL at {{ .Values.externalDatabase.host }}:{{ .Values.externalDatabase.port }}..."
-              until nc -z {{ .Values.externalDatabase.host }} {{ .Values.externalDatabase.port }}; do
-                echo "MySQL not ready, waiting..."
+              echo "Waiting for MySQL to be fully initialized..."
+              until mysql -h {{ .Values.externalDatabase.host }} -P {{ .Values.externalDatabase.port }} -u {{ .Values.externalDatabase.username }} -p${MYSQL_PASSWORD} -e "SELECT 1 FROM GROUP_DETAILS LIMIT 1" {{ .Values.externalDatabase.database }} 2>/dev/null; do
+                echo "Waiting for database tables to be created..."
                 sleep 5
               done
-              echo "MySQL is available!"
+              echo "MySQL is fully initialized!"
+          env:
+            - name: MYSQL_PASSWORD
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: {{ include "schedulerservice.fullname" . }}-db-config
+                  key: password
       {{- end }}
       containers:
         - name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
diff --git a/helm/schedulerservice/templates/secret-db.yaml b/helm/schedulerservice/templates/secret-db.yaml
index af70bb6..6da6318 100644
--- a/helm/schedulerservice/templates/secret-db.yaml
+++ b/helm/schedulerservice/templates/secret-db.yaml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ metadata:
     {{- include "schedulerservice.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 type: Opaque
 stringData:
+  password: {{ .Values.externalDatabase.password | quote }}
   hibernate.cfg.xml: |
     <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
     <!DOCTYPE hibernate-configuration PUBLIC