Should I mention industrial experience in an academic CV when applying for a PhD? I have about six years of entry-level experience in a certain field acquired before entering university and during its first years. Should I mention such experience when applying for a PhD? By now I also have research and teaching experience, which is much more relevant.

The work experience includes some relevant aspects for the PhD, e.g. programming. The companies were small (start-ups). Two of them no longer exist (it is more than 10 years since the first job). Could I just write this along the lines 


  I have also xx years of experience in yy field working as a zz. My tasks involved mostly blah blah.
As the fellows said, you need to declare something about that rather long gap. Because, the admission committee would be disappointed in a typical applicant with a considerable time interval without any scientific or technical activity.

Furthermore, I would like to pinpoint that the Ph.D. projects would be, roughly, divided into two large categories. One would be pure-research projects, are which supposed to be traced as the cutting-edge study and engineering. The next one would be industrial projects (considerably common in european positions), are which stemming from the desire for new ideas, but are different with the former case in that the mental background from the context of the project would be really functional and precious. One might claim that the industrial experience could be accounted as such background.

Just do it, then!