Ask HN - Need career advice

I am a java developer. For most part of my career I have worked in companies where I got to develop software which was mediocre. Not too good not too bad, just OK. This is not to say that I am a bad programmer or I lack the knowledge of good coding practices. I do have them and I try my best to stick to them. I also try to learn on my own in my free time. It is just that all the opportunities that I have got were quiet trivial - basic CRUD applications. Now I think its time to move on and do some work on serious and cool stuff - cause that is what I wanted to do. Stuff that really matters. Stuff that will be used by people. Perhaps a startup would be the right place or even may be a big company, bottomline is that the nature of work should be exciting.

However I have some trouble moving to other place. Wherever I go for an interview I get rejected. This is due to 2 reasons: 1. I don't have a formal education in computer science. So if they ask any questions regarding data structures, algorithms I get stuck. This sends a wrong impression. 2. Though I am a Java programmer and I think I am quite good at it, they ask questions about technologies I have not worked on. So they think I am just a dumb programmer. Should I have been familiar with all technologies related to Java? Should I have learnt a new language?

I am quiet desperate to move to a hard core techie place. But I am not sure how should I upgrade myself. I know I have to do some homework, but I am not sure what should I do which will get me to the place I would want to work. Should I start reading the computer science basics - what ever they teach at college? Even after that I am not sure if I will make through. Should I learn a new language or technology - even then there are lots of them and each company uses one or other - so it would be like shooting arrows in the dark.

Can some one provide advice on how I can revamp my career. I am ready to spend time to read stuff and upgrade myself even if it takes a long time for me.

There is also another issue. I am more looking towards startups as I think I would fit their culture well. However I don't know where can I find startup jobs. They are not available at monster or naukri. Even if they are they are sporadic. hasgeek.in and other sites don't have many jobs in java. Please advise on this as well.