Want to swim in the SAP ocean, but where to start?

Good day Ladies and Gents,

My name is Rudolph and I have a few questions regarding getting started with SAP. I guess I should give a bit of my background. After leaving school I completed a Business Administration Associates Degree. From there, I attempted to finish my Bachelors in Business Management but I had to stop short for personal reasons.

My work experience is as follows: The majority of my work experience(4years) is in construction as a foreman. Some of that time was spent on a mine. I'm sure my construction experience would not help much coming into IT but I am quite computer literate. Before construction I had temporary jobs at 2 companies where I did clerical work and I was using Microsoft SharePoint and The Office Suite to do payrolls and general admin. Just to add, I was very active on the computer during my high school years where I managed to build a website or two.

With that said, I've had enough of being in construction and I've decided that my time would be better spent in IT and I've been told that I should look into SAP. I've read up a bit and spoken to friend of mine. He recommended that I should get certified in R3. I would like to become a consultant and be part of the implementation process. So, my questions to you all are:

Where do I get started? What certifications should I get that would essentially land me a job so that I can get some first-hand experience? Any other suggestions and insight would also be very welcome

Thank you for your time and I say thank you in advance for any answers. Hope I could one day also be a SAP fish.

Regards,

Rudolph