diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index c3c0bc83..b3587a22 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -6,19 +6,19 @@ on:
       - "**"
 jobs:
   build:
-     name: Maven Build
-     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-     steps:
-       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+    name: Maven Build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
-       - name: Setup Java 17
-         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
-         with:
-           java-version: 17
-           distribution: "temurin"
+      - name: Setup Java 17
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        with:
+          java-version: 17
+          distribution: "temurin"
 
-       - name: Build with Maven
-         run: mvn verify --file skill-tree/pom.xml -Pgit-build-profile -Dskip-tests=true
+      - name: Build with Maven
+        run: mvn verify --file skill-tree/pom.xml -P git-build-profile -D skip-tests=true
 
   unit-test:
     name: Unit Tests
@@ -48,4 +48,4 @@ jobs:
           distribution: "temurin"
 
       - name: Integration Test
-        run: mvn verify --file skill-tree/pom.xml -Dskip-ut=true
+        run: mvn verify --file skill-tree/pom.xml -D skip-ut=true
diff --git a/skill-tree/pom.xml b/skill-tree/pom.xml
index c840309b..d06b399c 100644
--- a/skill-tree/pom.xml
+++ b/skill-tree/pom.xml
@@ -97,17 +97,17 @@
         </dependency>
 
         <!--Start io.jsonwebtoken: todo: remove the below block when rolling back to new version -->
-                <dependency>
-                    <groupId>io.jsonwebtoken</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jjwt</artifactId>
-                    <version>0.9.1</version>
-                </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>io.jsonwebtoken</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jjwt</artifactId>
+            <version>0.9.1</version>
+        </dependency>
         <!-- This package is required by the jjwt library versions < 0.10.0 - https://github.com/jwtk/jjwt/issues/297               -->
-                <dependency>
-                    <groupId>javax.xml.bind</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>jaxb-api</artifactId>
-                    <version>2.3.1</version>
-                </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>javax.xml.bind</groupId>
+            <artifactId>jaxb-api</artifactId>
+            <version>2.3.1</version>
+        </dependency>
         <!--End io.jsonwebtoken-->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
@@ -198,8 +198,8 @@
                         </indent>
                         <trimTrailingWhitespace/>
                         <endWithNewline/>
-                        <importOrder />
-                        <removeUnusedImports />
+                        <importOrder/>
+                        <removeUnusedImports/>
                     </java>
                 </configuration>
                 <executions>
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@
                 <configuration>
                     <skip>${skip-tests}</skip>
                     <includes>
-                        <include>**/integration/*.java</include>
+                        <include>*/integration/**/*.java</include>
                     </includes>
 
                 </configuration>
diff --git a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/TestContainerManager.java b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/TestContainerManager.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e5609bc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/TestContainerManager.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package com.RDS.skilltree;
+
+import org.springframework.boot.testcontainers.service.connection.ServiceConnection;
+import org.springframework.test.context.DynamicPropertyRegistry;
+import org.springframework.test.context.DynamicPropertySource;
+import org.testcontainers.containers.MySQLContainer;
+
+public abstract class TestContainerManager {
+    @ServiceConnection static final MySQLContainer mysqlContainer;
+
+    static {
+        mysqlContainer =
+                new MySQLContainer("mysql:8.1")
+                        .withDatabaseName("skilltree-test")
+                        .withUsername("root")
+                        .withPassword("password");
+        mysqlContainer.start();
+    }
+
+    @DynamicPropertySource
+    static void configureTestProperties(DynamicPropertyRegistry registry) {
+        registry.add("spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto", () -> "update");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/CreateSkillIntegrationTest.java b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/CreateSkillIntegrationTest.java
similarity index 94%
rename from skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/CreateSkillIntegrationTest.java
rename to skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/CreateSkillIntegrationTest.java
index 4c2f56d9..714fd33d 100644
--- a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/CreateSkillIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/CreateSkillIntegrationTest.java
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-package com.RDS.skilltree.skills;
+package com.RDS.skilltree.integration.skills;
 
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
+import com.RDS.skilltree.TestContainerManager;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.dtos.RdsGetUserDetailsResDto;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.enums.SkillTypeEnum;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.models.Skill;
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestInstance;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.web.servlet.AutoConfigureMockMvc;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
@@ -28,10 +30,12 @@
 import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.MockMvcResultMatchers;
 import utils.WithCustomMockUser;
 
-@SpringBootTest
+// @SpringBootTest
 @AutoConfigureMockMvc
 @ActiveProfiles("test")
-public class CreateSkillIntegrationTest {
+@TestInstance(TestInstance.Lifecycle.PER_CLASS)
+@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment.DEFINED_PORT)
+public class CreateSkillIntegrationTest extends TestContainerManager {
     @Autowired private MockMvc mockMvc;
     @Autowired private SkillRepository skillRepository;
     @MockBean private RdsService rdsService;
@@ -83,7 +87,6 @@ public void createSkill_validRequest_shouldCreateSkill() throws Exception {
                 .andExpect(MockMvcResultMatchers.jsonPath("$.type").value("ATOMIC"));
 
         assert skillRepository.existsByName("Java");
-        ;
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest.java b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest.java
similarity index 96%
rename from skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest.java
rename to skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest.java
index 90dbcd91..388dde29 100644
--- a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest.java
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-package com.RDS.skilltree.skills;
+package com.RDS.skilltree.integration.skills;
 
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
+import com.RDS.skilltree.TestContainerManager;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.dtos.RdsGetUserDetailsResDto;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.enums.SkillTypeEnum;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.enums.UserSkillStatusEnum;
@@ -18,7 +19,10 @@
 import com.RDS.skilltree.viewmodels.RdsUserViewModel;
 import io.jsonwebtoken.Claims;
 import jakarta.servlet.http.Cookie;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.*;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestInstance;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.web.servlet.AutoConfigureMockMvc;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
@@ -32,10 +36,12 @@
 import utils.CustomResultMatchers;
 import utils.WithCustomMockUser;
 
-@SpringBootTest
+// @SpringBootTest
 @AutoConfigureMockMvc
 @ActiveProfiles("test")
-public class GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest {
+@TestInstance(TestInstance.Lifecycle.PER_CLASS)
+@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment.DEFINED_PORT)
+public class GetAllSkillRequestIntegrationTest extends TestContainerManager {
     @Autowired private MockMvc mockMvc;
 
     @Autowired private UserSkillRepository userSkillRepository;
diff --git a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest.java b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest.java
similarity index 90%
rename from skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest.java
rename to skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest.java
index cca60e09..44b7866f 100644
--- a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-package com.RDS.skilltree.skills;
+package com.RDS.skilltree.integration.skills;
 
+import com.RDS.skilltree.TestContainerManager;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.enums.SkillTypeEnum;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.models.Skill;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.repositories.SkillRepository;
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestInstance;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.web.servlet.AutoConfigureMockMvc;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
@@ -20,10 +22,12 @@
 import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.MockMvcResultMatchers;
 import utils.WithCustomMockUser;
 
-@SpringBootTest
+// @SpringBootTest
 @AutoConfigureMockMvc
 @ActiveProfiles("test")
-public class GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest {
+@TestInstance(TestInstance.Lifecycle.PER_CLASS)
+@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment.DEFINED_PORT)
+public class GetAllSkillsIntegrationTest extends TestContainerManager {
 
     @Autowired private SkillService skillService;
 
diff --git a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest.java b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest.java
similarity index 96%
rename from skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest.java
rename to skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest.java
index 1510741c..24bb58af 100644
--- a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/skills/SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/integration/skills/SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest.java
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-package com.RDS.skilltree.skills;
+package com.RDS.skilltree.integration.skills;
 
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
+import com.RDS.skilltree.TestContainerManager;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.dtos.RdsGetUserDetailsResDto;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.dtos.SkillRequestActionRequestDto;
 import com.RDS.skilltree.enums.SkillTypeEnum;
@@ -17,10 +18,7 @@
 import com.RDS.skilltree.viewmodels.RdsUserViewModel;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import io.jsonwebtoken.Claims;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.*;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.web.servlet.AutoConfigureMockMvc;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
@@ -33,10 +31,12 @@
 import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.MockMvcResultMatchers;
 import utils.WithCustomMockUser;
 
-@SpringBootTest
+// @SpringBootTest
 @AutoConfigureMockMvc
 @ActiveProfiles("test")
-public class SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest {
+@TestInstance(TestInstance.Lifecycle.PER_CLASS)
+@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment.DEFINED_PORT)
+public class SkillRequestActionIntegrationTest extends TestContainerManager {
     @Autowired private MockMvc mockMvc;
     @Autowired private UserSkillRepository userSkillRepository;
     @Autowired private SkillRepository skillRepository;
diff --git a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/utils/UUIDValidationInterceptorTest.java b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/unit/utils/UUIDValidationInterceptorTest.java
similarity index 95%
rename from skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/utils/UUIDValidationInterceptorTest.java
rename to skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/unit/utils/UUIDValidationInterceptorTest.java
index f17e6cc1..88a02028 100644
--- a/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/utils/UUIDValidationInterceptorTest.java
+++ b/skill-tree/src/test/java/com/RDS/skilltree/unit/utils/UUIDValidationInterceptorTest.java
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
-package com.RDS.skilltree.utils;
+package com.RDS.skilltree.unit.utils;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 import com.RDS.skilltree.exceptions.InvalidParameterException;
+import com.RDS.skilltree.utils.UUIDValidationInterceptor;
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 import java.util.UUID;