Would being honest in your profession with society be worth anything?

Hello, not long ago I turned 24 years old and I am unemployed, 2 months ago I joined as an engineer but I can't find a job, well I think it's because of the years of experience that they ask for which they don't call me to any job. The thing is that during my time at the university I was an average student but I always did my homework and projects on time and I almost never had a complaint with any professor or authority. I remembered other classmates I had in my class and they really made minimal effort, they were lazy and didn't do their homework, when it came to group work they lived off the backs of their classmates' work. They were simply present in the classroom. However, once outside the University I have seen some of them who are working saying that they are heads of design and so on and that really frustrates me and disappoints me as a professional because that was one of the people who copied in the exams or used artificial intelligence to do homework. I don't know what I'm getting at or I just want to put my frustration in this post. I was talking to my girlfriend about this, she is an outstanding student and she also told me that most of her classmates were lazy and did not dedicate themselves to doing things and in the end they ended up graduating before my girlfriend (But that was because I had an exchange trip to the United States and she had to wait a semester to enroll because she did not meet the deadline).The point is that I think that many opportunities are lost for people who do honest work and are really dedicated, it is not worth to be honest and ethical in society to perform as a professional, because it will be that people who make a minimum effort are proud of that and achieve more than people who really are honest and applied. Maybe at some point in the future there will come karma or that moment when they realize that they are a bad professional and that is because they didn't do the right things during their training? I would like to think if there is any reward in the future for doing things right or is it just the lazy or minimum effort people that will triumph over the people that do have values?..it's a depressing situation to see how people who are not good at doing the right things are rewarded for doing the right things. It is a depressing situation to see how people who are not honest, did the impossible except to study to be able to have a good job and see how they manage projects and show their pride.

I hope you can understand my translation haha, and if any person feels identified, feel free to write and read what you think.