Flytdeck
I know a few guys who live at the pearl. Its a nice place, but very quiet. My wife says that she would be unhappy there as its not really busy enough for her. I would strongly suggest you hire a car when you get here and have a good look around as there are 100's of compounds all over Doha.
I would say best thing to do is not panic and take your time renting somewhere and let your wife decide where she wants to live. Happy wife, happy life. I lived in Holiday Villa for a long time which was great. It was 10 mins from work. When my wife moved here, she wanted to move as it was too much like a hotel. I am now at Ain Khalid Gate which is better for my wife as the facilities are great. Its a pain for me to travel to work in rush hours as it can take 45 minutes to an hour max.
As for travelling from the Perl to work, it can take anything from 20 mins to an hour in rush hour.
TwoTone-7 is correct, if you get to the sim, you have passed the interview I guess, but they do not tell you if you have passed the sim or not. You have to wait for contact from them.